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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Longtime DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier Stepping Down To Head NFL Security

DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier "will step down next month" join the NFL as Head of Security, according to a front-page piece by Hermann, Williams & Marimow of the WASHINGTON POST. Lanier is "ending her 26-year career after recently turning 49, and four months short of serving a full decade heading one of the nation’s highest-profile police departments." She was DC's "first permanent female chief." Lanier said, "When I thought about the NFL, it’s America’s favorite sport, and what’s more important than making sure America’s favorite sport is safe?” She has had an "unusually long tenure heading a major police department, persevering through political tumult to work for three mayors." She has frequently "clashed with the police union, which complained she had a harsh management style that drove off many rank-and-file officers." And some of her previous "crime-fighting tactics, such as erecting roadblocks in high-crime areas, came under fire." But she has "remained one of the city’s most popular leaders." Lanier said that she was "offered the new job on Friday and mulled it over during the weekend" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/17). In DC, Andrea Noble in a front-page piece notes Lanier "will leave the department on Sept. 17." Lanier also said that she "turned down multiple offers over the years to oversee other departments." She said that her "greatest achievement" as DC Police Chief was the "positive strides the department has made building a good relationship with the community" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 8/17).

PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE: The AP's Ben Nuckols noted Lanier "came from a family of police officers and joined the department after earning a high-school equivalency diploma." She later "earned a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees." Lanier was "head of homeland security and counterterrorism for the department when then-Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty called and offered her the job of chief, without an interview" (AP, 8/16).

SEEMS LIKE THE RIGHT FIT: In DC, Matt Bonesteel wrote considering the "number of law-enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction" in DC, Lanier "would seem to be a good candidate for the job." Plus, she "has the law-enforcement experience that would seem to be a prerequisite for the position." But Lanier also will be "tasked with investigating incidents involving league personnel that have the potential to cast the league in a bad light." The NFL Head of Security "sits at the top of a hierarchy that reaches into nearly every aspect of professional football" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 8/16). THE UNDEFEATED's Clinton Yates wrote Lanier's background as an officer, who "rose from the rank of beat cop to lead one of the higher-profile forces in the country, is not one we’d expect to see in a leadership role in the NFL" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 8/16). The WASHINGTON POST's Perry Stein takes a look at some of the "biggest events" during Lanier's tenure in DC. 

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