Commissioner Danielle Outlaw discusses her experience in Philadelphia, Portland, and Oakland

Danielle Outlaw has held police leadership roles in three very challenging cities. She spent the first 20 years of her career with the Oakland Police Department, rising to serve as deputy chief from 2013-2017. 

From 2017-2019, she was chief of the Portland Police Bureau, and she has led the Philadelphia Police Department since 2020. She announced this week that she will leave that agency to become the deputy chief security officer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.  

PERF Executive Director Chuck Wexler spoke with Commissioner Outlaw about why she became a police officer, how Oakland, Portland, and Philadelphia differ, and what she’s learned from her time policing in those three cities. 

Thanks for listening to PERFcast, the official podcast of the Police Executive Research Forum. For more information on PERF, visit www.policeforum.org.