Cassandra Deck-Brown was selected to lead the Raleigh Police Department, the 41st largest police department in the nation from February 2013, until her retirement in July 2021. While navigating her way through the RPD ranks, Cassandra Deck-Brown was often the first woman or the first African American in the Department to assume a role or obtain a rank. Deck-Brown implemented and oversaw high-profile initiatives and best practices to model, including Body-worn camera program, Mental Health First-Aid training, the Raleigh Citizen’s Police Academy, and Reality-Based Training and Intelligence-Led Policing. While promoting a wellness and resilience program for the agency personnel, she created a trauma counselor position to aid victims of violence and their families, making the Department one of the only law enforcement agencies in the country to provide such a service to the public at no cost. She established a coalition of faith leaders who serve as ambassadors between police and the broader faith community while building a team of social workers and sworn officers to assist individuals in crisis by connecting them with the resources needed to meet their individual goals-both yielded interviews by CNN and other major media platforms.

She serves as an active member in multiple professional organizations. Chief Deck-Brown completed the FBI National Executive Institute (NEI), PERF-Senior Management Institute of Policing (SMIP), Georgia State University-Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) Program, the US Army War College – Homeland Security & Crisis Management and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard – Homeland Security. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, recognitions and awards including UN Women (NC Chapter) Award, NAACP (Chapter) Humanitarian Award, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). Chief Deck-Brown holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from East Carolina University with a minor in social work and a master’s degree in public administration from N.C. State University.