Cynthia Herriott is the former police chief for the City of Rochester, New York. She is a criminal justice process improvement professional with years of experience in the field of criminal justice and organizational problem-solving, understanding that a balanced criminal justice process is critical to best-practice outcomes. As chief, she provided a public 90-day plan on efforts to move the Department forward; developed a Protest Plan Protocol that resulted in no arrests and no personnel complaints after a major court decision; implemented critical policies such as the Duty to Intervene and Limited Use of Force against juveniles. She served on the Rochester City School District’s School Climate Committee as part of a subcommittee that re-wrote the school’s Code of Conduct in order to decrease suspensions, which can be a gateway for youth into the justice system, which resulted in a 40% decrease.

She served as a liaison to the Rochester Drug Treatment Court, and has years of experience in training Problem-Solving Court Teams. She managed the development of the first area Community Court Academy, and also the Community Justice Forum, both with the intended goal of addressing disparity in the criminal justice system.  She has years of experience in training law enforcement to incorporate strategies into their patrol response in order to manage major community issues such as addiction, behavioral health, homelessness and housing justice, for sustainable outcomes.

She has worked with court systems and law enforcement around the United States, and internationally, assisting both with working together more effectively.  She is a Fellow with the Institute for Polarities of Democracy. She currently serves as Chair of the RASE Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee, a community initiative tasked with Justice reform in these areas. She holds a Master of Science Degree and is a Certified Compliance Professional.