Cathy L. Lanier spent her 26-year law enforcement career with the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, beginning in 1990. Much of her career was in uniformed patrol, where she served as Commander of the Fourth District, one of the largest and most diverse residential districts in the city. She also served as the Commanding Officer of the Department’s Major Narcotics Branch, Vehicular Homicide Units, and the Special Operations Division, where she is credited with creating the Department’s Homeland Security and Counter-Terrorism Bureau. Named to the top post in 2007, her strategies are credited with reducing violent crime in Washington DC.