Metropolitan Police Department Patrol Chief Chanel Dickerson received a Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Award in June for outstanding public service during her tenure as commander of the Youth and Family Services Division. (Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department)

MPD patrol chief, winner of Cafritz Award, strives to set tone of respect for all

By Andria Moore On Aug 21, 2018 Last updated Aug 23, 2018

Chanel Dickerson has the strong will of an ox. As patrol chief for three of the Metropolitan Police Department’s six districts and in her previous positions with the agency, Dickerson has witnessed any number of heart-wrenching crimes.

“My first day on the job, an 11-year-old went missing,” Dickerson said, recalling a clearly painful memory. “I just kept thinking, what would I do? If I was 11 years old, where would I go?”

Dickerson found the young girl after a few weeks of searching, and still regularly follows up with her and her family. The case opened her eyes to the large number of young Latina and African-American females who are reported missing in DC. (There were 2,194 children reported missing in 2017 and 2,268 in 2016, according to MPD statistics.)

“It motivated me further knowing that people really need the help of police,” she said. “And we are talking about [it] in reference to young people.”

Chanel Dickerson became one of the Metropolitan Police Department’s two patrol chiefs in March after 16 months as commander of the Youth and Family Services Division. In June, she received a Cafrtiz Foundation Award for outstanding public service. (Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department)

Her passion for protecting others is inspiring. Since becoming an MPD officer in 1988, she has quickly moved through the ranks — taking over command of Patrol Services South on March 30, with responsibility for the 1st, 6th and 7th districts. In June, her work as commander of the Youth and Family Services Division from December 2016 through March 2018 earned her a Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Award, which recognizes outstanding public service from standout D.C. government employees.

“A lot of missing kids end up the victims of human trafficking,” MPD Capt. David Sledge said in an interview. “Her passion for children helped save a lot of kids.”

As the third highest-ranked official in all of the MPD, it’s safe to say Dickerson has a big job. According to Sledge, her work in the department’s active sixth and seventh districts means she’s constantly busy, though that’s nothing new for her.

“She’s out there always, seven days a week,” Sledge said. “Back at the youth division it wasn’t uncommon for her to work 20-hour days.”

Patrol Chief Chanel Dickerson helped with efforts in July to spur renewed public awareness of the disappearance of Relisha Rudd more than four years earlier when she was 8. She was last seen on surveillance video at a DC motel with a janitor who worked at the DC General shelter where Rudd lived with her family. (Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department)

Making a point to visit families and youth in impoverished communities, Dickerson attributes her passion for her job to her interactions with one police officer in particular when she was 9 years old, growing up in the small town of Danville, Va., 250 miles from DC.

“I watched the only African-American officer patrol my neighborhood, and I saw how he watched and engaged with the community,” Dickerson said. “He would see us coming home from school, and he learned all of our names.”

She stuck to her dream. With her family having moved to DC by the time she started at Eastern High School, she joined the MPD Police Cadets and didn’t look back. Her empathy and passion stayed with her, leading her to reform the process of locating missing persons.

Previously, a person was not considered officially “missing” unless they hadn’t been seen or heard from in 24 hours. Dickerson felt this could be dangerous, especially in cases involving children.

“If your loved one was missing, you would want someone to investigate immediately,” Dickerson said.

She wanted a way to encourage people to report their missing loved ones quicker, and to have detectives begin working on cases immediately. She and her team started an initiative in 2017 to incorporate social media into the search for missing people. For every case they received, they would create a flier to send to the missing person’s office and then tweet it. They also created a website complete with each missing person’s picture and information that was updated regularly if that person was found.

Patrol Chief Chanel Dickerson with Chief Peter Newsham after receiving the Cafritz Foundation Award (Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department)

“She has the ability to look at a situation and really look at the root cause of what’s going on — and I mean everything,” Assistant Chief Lamar Greene told The DC Line. Greene heads Patrol Services North, which comprises the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th police districts.

As assistant chief in charge of Patrol Services South, Dickerson is mindful of the well-being of 1,128 officers in her bureau, not to mention hundreds of lives she works to protect daily. She readily accepts that pressure, though.

“The more people working with you, the more people you can positively impact,” Dickerson said.

She hesitates, however, to label herself a role model. She doesn’t see her position as one of power, but rather a mutually beneficial partnership. She wants everyone treated the same, regardless of rank or social status.

“I want people to just respect each other as human beings,” Dickerson said about her job goals.

Working many 20-hour days and weekends doesn’t leave her with much free time. She makes sure to save time for one recreational activity: meditation. When her alarm sounds at 4:15 a.m., she is up and ready.

“I believe that whatever you deposit into your mind the first 20 minutes of the day sets the tone for the rest of the day,” Dickerson said. “If I don’t take care of me, there’s no way I can protect others.”