Chief Cynthia Renaud discusses the growing and evolving complexities of mass gatherings and crises and how first responders can become quickly overtasked with multiple threats in one event. Have we become as agile as the threat? Are we using old tools to solve new problems? Renaud suggests reimagining government and how we operate in multi-jurisdictional situations, across-disciplines, and in our communities.
About the Speaker
After spending nearly three decades in local law enforcement, Cynthia Renaud retired as Chief of Police from the Santa Monica Police Department in October 2020. Prior to this agency, she served as chief of the Folsom Police Department in Sacramento county for seven years, and prior to that, the Long Beach Police Department in Los Angeles County for twenty years, leaving that agency at the rank of commander. She is currently the president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the world’s largest and most influential professional association for police leaders with over 31,000 members across 165 countries worldwide. She attended California State University, Long Beach, where she completed a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature in 1996 and a Master’s Degree in English Literature in 2000. In 2010, she completed a second Master’s Degree in National Security Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. Chief Renaud received the Outstanding Thesis Award for her thesis submissions in both graduate programs. Chief Renaud is a graduate of the 214th Session of the FBI National Academy. She writes professionally and has had articles published in the Homeland Security Affairs Journal, the Journal of Leadership Studies, and Tactical Edge magazine as well as the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. In 2015, Chief Renaud was named California State Legislature “Woman of the Year,” Assembly District 6. Additionally, in 2016, she was selected by the Sacramento Business Journal as one of the year’s “Women Who Mean Business” honorees.
