Interim director appointed as head of Washington’s Criminal Justice Training Commission

After months of serving as interim director of Washington state’s peace officer training arm, Monica Alexander, 59, was officially appointed to the role Wednesday.

After Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission Executive Director Sue Rahr retired earlier in the year, Alexander took over as interim executive director at Rahr’s recommendation.

With Rahr’s full support, Alexander was officially appointed by the commission to stay in the role long term.

Alexander quickly rose through the ranks to become the first Black woman promoted to sergeant in Washington State Patrol history.

Since then, she worked with lawmakers to craft legislation such as the Survivor Bill of Rights, which requires law enforcement to undergo specialized, trauma-informed training; a bill that created the statewide Sexual Assault Kit Tracking system; and, in 2019, a bill that funded a new high-throughput lab to help reduce the state’s rape kit backlog.

In 2019, Alexander retired from WSP and joined the commission as the Advanced Training Division’s program manager.

In an interview with The Spokesman-Review earlier this year, Alexander said one of her goals is to be more transparent to the public about what the commission does, and policing as a whole.

“I want people to feel like this training facility belongs to the people, because it does,” Alexander said. “And I want them to feel comfortable asking questions and making suggestions.”