Cathy Lynn Lanier (born July 22, 1967) is a former chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC). Lanier was appointed by Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in January 2007, replacing outgoing police chief Charles H. Ramsey. She is the first woman to hold the position. In May 2012, Mayor Vincent C. Gray agreed to retain Lanier as police chief under a new five-year contract.[1] Lanier accepted a third appointment from Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2016, making her the first chief of police in MPD history to serve three mayors. Violent crime dropped 23 percent over the years Lanier was chief, and homicides plunged to a half-century low in 2012.[2] On August 16, 2016, it was announced that Lanier had accepted a position as the senior vice president of security with the National Football League.[3] Her last day as police chief was September 15, 2016, when she was succeeded by her deputy, Peter Newsham.[4] Lanier was the longest serving Chief of Police in the history of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia.