T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images.

T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images.

Today is the first day in nearly a decade that D.C. Police does not have Cathy Lanier at the helm.

Lanier retired yesterday after 26 years with the force, and 9 years as the top cop—a lengthy tenure as the head of a major city’s police department. D.C. Police documented her final day in video and photos shared on social media.

Yesterday morning, Mayor Muriel Bowser swore in Peter Newsham as the interim police chief of the force. Newsham had previously served as assistant chief of police since 2002—the longest-serving of the six current assistant chiefs—and joined MPD in 1989. In the past weeks, Newsham has been the face of MPD at press briefings.

Lanier honored Newsham with her badge, then proceeded to sign out live on Periscope, and turn in her gun.

Lanier announced her retirement last month. In a farewell letter to the force, she said that she’ll be moving on to head security for the National Football League. “Almost ten years ago, I accepted the job as the chief of police in Washington, D.C., not only because I love this department and the city, but because I realized the significance of keeping our nation’s capital safe in an environment everything that America values is vulnerable to attack,” she wrote. “It is for the same reason I have decided to accept a position that will allow me to serve and protect America’s favorite sport.”

Her announcement was largely received by words of appreciation of her service from other public officials. However, she did hear from some critical voices, who sighed in relief of her retirement, including members of the D.C. Police Union and Black Lives Movement.

And earlier this month, after telling The Washington Post that “the criminal justice system in this city is broken,” she was met with disagreement from District officials, including Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, D.C. Superior Court Chief Judge Lee Satterfield, and D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine.

Mayor Bowser, in response to Lanier’s remarks, told reporters that “there are certainly things that I would like to change about our system,” Fox 5 reported. Bowser added that D.C. is unique in that some aspects of government are under federal control. has federal government control. “While it is imperfect,” she continued, “it is the one that we have.”

Meanwhile, Lanier is leaving the D.C. department with a pension of about $180,000 a year, NBC 4 reported.

Filed Under: cathy lanier, d.c. police, mpd, peter newsham, police, retire,