by Meg Staley

Newly appointed Metropolitan Police Department (Washington DC) Chief Cathy L. Lanier spoke on February 20, 2007 at The Performance Institute’s National Summit on the Advancement of Women in Law Enforcement.  Chief Lanier, the first female acting police chief in the history of the MPD, looked back over her career and spoke about her experiences in her first two months as chief. 
           
Lanier was appointed by Mayor Adrian Fenty and stepped into the Chief’s role on January 2, 2007.  She says that she had never laid out a strategy or considered being chief until the day Mayor Fenty asked her, but that in hindsight, she recognizes several strategies to her successful rise through the ranks, and offered them as advice to the attendees. 

• Get an education – Chief Lanier has two post-graduate degrees, and she says they have kept her afloat in tasks where she was less experienced.  If you’re hoping to move up in rank, it’s also important to expand your knowledge base beyond criminal justice topics.  Taking courses in management and administration will help you immensely as a command staff member. Advanced education will also look great on your resume – a surefire way to up your promotion potential.  
• Work hard – This was one of the most significant factors to Chief Lanier’s success.  As she says, “other people who were up for the same promotion were smarter than me, but nothing could stop me from out-studying them.” 
• Treat everyone with respect and dignity –If there were a central tenet in Chief Lanier’s strategy for success, this would be it. This means paying attention to rank and file employees; even as command staff, you should not neglect the people who perform essential functions like UCR data entry.  Chief Lanier says, “I know how hard it is to be a patrol officer in the MPD and feel like nobody cares about you.”  As such, she tries to ensure that patrol officers no longer feel that way.  Treating your staff with dignity will help to ensure engagement at all levels of the organization. 
• Surround yourself with good people – Another key to Chief Lanier’s success is that she always surrounds herself with trustworthy individuals who are loyal to the job and will work very hard to ensure the MPD remains successful. 
• Network – Ensure that contact with other police officers and community members are positive, as they may support the advancement of your career.  Talking to people on your beat or in your division allows you to hear about the issues that are important to the community, and networking with members of other law enforcement agencies can expose you to innovative ways to address those issues. 
• Keep up with the news – National and global trends and threats can and will happen in your jurisdiction some day.  Therefore, thinking about how you and your department would respond to those events that are currently in the news will help improve your personal and departmental preparedness. 
• Use fear as a motivating factor – Chief Lanier says, “I’ve been fearful for most of the past 24 years, since my son was born, - [knowing that that child only had me in this world] - but I never let it be something that drains my energy. I try to let it be a motivating factor.  I got the exact same feeling the week after I was named chief, but I decided that it’s too late…I can’t fail, I can’t let people down.”  This refusal to fail is what keeps Chief Lanier inspired to work hard and remain dedicated. 

Although Chief Lanier’s stories, tips, and insights were directed at a female audience, the advice that she offers can, and should, be incorporated into every officer’s career plan.

The Performance Institute, located in Arlington, VA., is a private, non-partisan think tank seeking to improve government performance through the principles of competition, accountability performance, and transparency. PI serves as the nation’s leading authority and repository on performance based management practices for government. The mission of the Institute is to identify, study, and disseminate the leading management innovations pioneered by “best in class” organizations.