3 things you didn't know about Howard County's first female African American police chief

Lisa Myers, 52, retired on Jan. 31, 2018 as a captain in the county police department after 27 years of service only to return as police chief on Feb. 1, 2019. Myers is the first woman, and first African-American, to hold the position in Howard County. The Baltimore native resides in Windsor Mill with her husband, Woody Myers, a retired state police captain, and their younger son, Nicholas, 18. Here she shares three unusual facts about her life.She studied to be a mortician. Myers studied mortuary science in community college from 1984 to 1985, a job she described as “fascinating, but with little opportunity for advancement.” She enrolled at Coppin State University and switched her major to criminal justice – taking 14 years to graduate magna cum laude in 1999 while working full-time, first at the FBI in Washington and then as a civilian in the county police department’s crime lab for four years.She was the only female in her class. Myers spent 45 weeks in training with 23 men at the Howard County Police Academy in 1994. “Only about 15 percent of police officers in Howard County are women,” she said. It wasn’t until 2017 that Mary Levy become the first woman promoted to major, Myers noted.She and her five siblings adore horror films. The youngest of six, Myers prefers realistic films that “scare you to death.” The group ranks “The Exorcist” at the top of the genre. Her three brothers and two sisters, who reside in the Baltimore area, frequently send out “family texts” to take polls on horror villains – “Jason or Freddy?” – or debate a movie’s merits. They also ask what folks had for breakfast and the like. “It’s not unusual to get 52 texts by 10 a.m.,” Myers said of the close-knit clan’s penchant for communicating. “Sometimes, it drives me bonkers.”

3 things you didn't know about Howard County's first female African American police chief

Don't miss our 4th of July sale!
Save big on local news.

SALE ENDS SOON

$1 FOR 12 WEEKS

Don't miss our 4th of July sale!Save big on local news.

SALE ENDS SOON

$1 FOR 12 WEEKS

Don't miss our 4th of July sale!
Save big on local news.