Overview:
Captain Danita Pettis has been honored by the Cincinnati Police Department for her 25 years of service and groundbreaking achievements as the highest-ranking African American female officer. Despite personal and professional challenges, she continues to dedicate herself to law enforcement and the community.
By Jerome Waller
Herald Contributor
Captain Danita Pettis recently earned her 25 Year Service Award from the Cincinnati Police Department. This award reflects the highs and lows of serving, seeing, and responding to an array of challenges enroute to becoming the highest ranking African American female in the Department. She is one of only two African American women who have attained the Command staff rank of Captain in the force’s 150plus-year history, with the other and first being the late Captain Kimberly Williams. Captain Pettis is currently the Commander of District Two.
She began her law enforcement career in 1999 after serving as a 911 Operator and quickly progressed through the ranks on the merits of being an intelligent, strategic, problem-solving leader. Pettis was promoted from Police Officer to Sergeant in five years. After scoring second on the Lieutenant’s promotional exam, she was promoted from Sergeant to Lieutenant in 11 years and from Lieutenant to Captain in four years, after again posting the second highest score on that Captain’s promotional exam. She has been leading from the front as a Captain for five years now.
In varying capacities, Captain Pettis has served in three of the City’s police districts: from patrol officer to undercover officer, from Special Services Commander with responsibilities for the Gang Unit, K-9 Unit, Mountain Bike Patrol, SWAT Tactical Planning and Traffic units to leader of the 2022 Gun Crimes Taskforce which took over 260 guns off our streets. She has served as a Civil Disturbance Response Team (CDRT) Commander and is now commanding District Two where she is responsible for serving and protecting 15 Cincinnati neighborhoods.
Captain Pettis has also honed her leadership skills through an impressive list of law enforcement courses, including graduating as a Police Chief Scholar from the Southern Police Institute (SPI) with a 4.0 GPA. Likewise, she has rounded out her internal leadership training with external ones, notably as a graduate of the Urban League’s African American Leadership Development Program (AALDP) and as a recent graduate of the 2022-2023 Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Cincinnati Class #46.
Born in Chicago but raised in Avondale, she will be the first to say that both personally and professionally, life for her, as the poet Langston Hughes laments: “ain’t been no crystal stair.” Raised in a single parent home by a mother who frequently moved her and her siblings between Chicago and Cincinnati, Pettis still managed to graduate from Walnut Hills High School and to later earn three degrees from the University of Cincinnati: Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and Spanish and a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice. She also served in the United States Army Reserve.
She is not one to shy away from a fight nor has she been immune to controversy. Just to enroll in the Police Academy was a fight for her. After scoring second highest on her class’ Civil Service examination, the Department still did not select her for the Police Academy recruit class. She appealed to Assistant Safety Director Rodney Prince who conferenced with Chief Michael Snowden to justly admit her. The Department acquiesced and the rest is history.
From then until now, personally and professionally, Danita has seen life’s highs and lows. Personally, her world was rocked in 2004 when she lost her 14-year-old son, Adrian, to cancer. Gun violence then claimed the life of her brother, Stephen in 2014, and her nephew, Christopher in 2020. Professionally, like many women of color seeking to push through the proverbial glass ceiling, she too has met uncanny resistance, especially in her earnest aspirations to become the first African American female Assistant Police Chief which requires the support of City Hall.
Yet undeterred and despite life for her not being a “crystal stair,” she too keeps climbing, believing Jeremiah 29:11 along the way: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Here’s to hope and here’s to your bright future, Captain Pettis.
Pettis said her most memorable moments in her career with the Cincinnati Police Department were “getting the job and the three promotions to sergeant, lieutenant and captain. “Officers in minority communities do not always represent the communities they serve, so being the second African American female captain on the Cincinnati Police Department is a major accomplishment,” she said.
Pettis served as president of the Sentinels, the African American police association, from 2022-2024. She was instrumental in taking guns off the streets in 2020 as a member of the Gun Crimes Task Force.
She said policing is personal to her, as she lost not only a son, but other family members due to gun violence. “It is not a job, but a calling, and it is rewarding to be able to help people when a crime is committed and in keeping the city safe,’’ she said.
“However, the line between public safety and politics not always clear,” she added.
Pettis said she tells people who want to become a police officer to follow their heart and dreams. She adds it is important police recruits come from a community the department serves in that they can better understand the challenges of the community. “Policing is an honorable profession, but you have to have a passion for it.”
In closing, Pettis said, “The 25 years I have served have been very rewarding. I do not regret a day of it. The lessons I learned along the way are valuable and priceless. I appreciate the opportunity to have served.’’
Captain Danita Pettis says she plans to continue her service as a Cincinnati police officer.
Herald Editor Dan Yount contributed his interview with Pettis at the end of this article.