Please join us 11/3 for a Reimagining Community Safety discussion with Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker and Police Chief RaShall Brackney on the challenges faced when reforming police.
March 12, 2021
By Bill Brink wbrink(through)andrew.cmu.edu
During RaShall Brackney’s senior year at Carnegie Mellon, she ran out of money. No student loans, no Pell grants, and financial aid covered room and board, but not much else. She was forced to withdraw, and entered the Pittsburgh Police Department.
“You’re young, you’re small, you’re a woman,” one of the men in the department told her upon entry. “These streets are tough, and you’ve never done anything in these streets except maybe cross one.”
Thirty-seven years later, Brackney is the Chief of Police in Charlottesville, Virginia. She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon and a PhD from Robert Morris University. She is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the FBI Hazardous Devices School, and the United States Secret Service Dignitary Protection Course.