Next D.C. Police Chief Talks About Single Parenthood

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON - Her teen years were spent taking care of her son and now in her 30s, D.C.'s next Chief of Police Cathy Lanier tells WTOP that single parenthood helped shaped who she is today.

Incoming Chief Cathy Lanier talks with spectators at a hockey game between the Secret Service and D.C.
Lanier, 39, talked extensively about her upbringing with WTOP during a ridealong.

Lanier grew up in a poor, single-parent household and at 11 when her parents divorced and her mother went back to work leaving her at home in the care of her older brothers.

"That was such a critical time for young girls, or any kid, and now we'd get out of school at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and there's no parent or guardian...it was a free-for-all," Lanier says.

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=596&sid=998453

[AnnieBW]

1. People in DC are kvetching

that she's not black. Hello? She's a single mom who made her way up through the ranks to Chief before age 40! Heck, I'm 42 and I'm not doing that well! She's a role model for ALL young women, white, black, Hispanic, etc.

[journalist3072]

2. Well I'm an African-American in DC, and I could care less that she's not African-American

You are correct that there's been a lot of talk about Mayor-Elect Fenty not appointing an African-American to be the next police chief. But I'm not one of them.

Needless to say, I think that diversity is always a good thing, and we should always encourage people (especially in minority groups) to break down barriers.

But just because someone looks like me, doesn't mean they share my values. For example, I would take a White Democrat over a Black Republican (like Michael Steele) any day.

[AnnieBW]

3. You Betcha!

Steele was a joke.