Beatrice Munah Sieh-Browne
Beatrice Munah Sieh-Browne is the first woman to head the Liberian National Police and the first woman to head a national police, intelligence, security or military agency on the African continent. She was appointed to the position in March 2006 by Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
Remarkably, Sieh-Browne’s previous job was as a junior high school teacher within the New Jersey Public School System. She had fled Liberia in 1996, after confronting then-police chief Joseph Tate about apparent corruption. Gunmen shot up her home shortly afterward but, fortunately, she was not home at the time.
Sieh-Browne began her professional career in 1979 riding a motorcycle in the Traffic Division, before moving to the position of riot control officer and then detail commander. She was commissioned chief of traffic ticketing in late 1985.
During the years of civil unrest in Liberia after 1986, Sieh-Browne served as assistant director of police for operations and later as deputy director of operations at the Liberian National Police Force.
She is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the founder and chairperson of the board of The Police Women Association of Liberia. As police chief, she also holds the military rank of colonel.
