Cathy Lanier

Cathy Lanier serves as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) for the National Football League. As the league’s CSO, Ms. Lanier supervises all operations and activities of the NFL Security Department. She oversees coordination with the league office and all 32 clubs, in addition to working with federal, state, and local law entities to ensure the security of the NFL’s venues, fans, players, staff and infrastructure. She acts as the primary supervisor of investigative programs, event security (including the Super Bowl) and international games, game integrity programs, cyber and information security and department administration.

Prior to serving in her current role as Senior Vice President and Chief of Security at the National Football League, Lanier held the position of Chief of Police with the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) from 2007 to 2016. Lanier rose through the ranks of the MPD to earn various commendable honors including becoming the first female police chief of the nation’s capital, the first commanding officer of Homeland Security and Counter-Terrorism for D.C. Police, one of a small number of female chiefs in the nation at the time, and the longest serving chief on the D.C. force. When serving as Chief of Police, Ms. Lanier’s innovative strategies were credited with reducing violent crime in Washington, D.C. by 21 percent from 2007 to 2015 while the city’s population grew by 15 percent. Ms. Lanier is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s Drug Unit Commanders Academy. She holds Bachelor's and Master’s Degrees in Management from Johns Hopkins University, and a Master's Degree in National Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.