INDIANAPOLIS -- Deputy Chief Valerie Cunningham is most known for being on crime scenes at night, but for the first 11 days of 2017, she was thrown into the top job while the mayor searched for a new chief.
Cunningham is the first woman to ever hold the chief title for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
"I wouldn't trade the last 11 days," Cunningham said. "It's been such an exciting time for me."
Cunningham's usual spot is out in the field, so it was a change to be behind the desk.
"My passion and my heart is with this agency," she said. "That's the bread and butter of a law enforcement agency -- the patrol work."
She didn't want the full-time job, but the time as chief gave Cunningham some insight into what the department does well, and what it can improve. Cunningham will take over Bryan Roach's job with the administrative side of the department. Roach was named to be IMPD's chief on Wednesday.
"All the way through my patrol career, I just wanted to be the best police officer I could be," she said. "I want [other officers] to know they can do anything they want. The only way to do that is to be the best at what they're doing right now."
Cunningham's photo will soon go on the wall of IMPD headquarters, with all the other previous chiefs.
"I hope there's a female up [on the wall], not with the asterisk as an interim, but as the chief of police one day," she said.
