National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives

Brenda Goss Andrews retired from the Detroit Police Department as a Deputy Chief with over 25 years of dedicated public service. She was promoted through the ranks from police officer to Deputy Chief becoming the first female in the Department’s history to administer and control the police department’s $400 million-dollar budget and thirty million dollars in state and federal grants. As deputy chief, she was one of the incident commanders in the August 2003 city-wide blackout that lasted for several days, responsible for procuring generators for precincts and ensuring the 911 system was operational among many other tasks.

As Commander, she oversaw the departments’ Personnel Division (human resources) which included recruiting and hiring police officers, overseeing the departments recruit and in-service training for over 2000 officers, preparing promotional examinations and assessment center evaluations for several thousand officers seeking promotion; and serving as the department’s Equal Employment Opportunity Director (EEOC) which included training and investigating claims of sexual harassment, workplace violence, and hostile working environments.

As Deputy Chief, Brenda was the project and budget director for a new construction 62,000 square foot, $18-million-dollar Southwest Public Safety Center. She also worked with the Department of Justice on the departments’ consent judgment and was chairperson for five extensive boards of review reports on deadly force police-involved shootings. She developed and taught several leadership classes for newly promoted sergeants and lieutenants. During her career, she has also worked as a beat and street patrol officer and a sex crime detective.

Brenda was elected as NOBLE National 2nd Vice President in July 2020 and ascended to the presidency in July 2022. Previously, she was the NOBLE Region IV VP and is a former president of the Metro Detroit Chapter. She served eight years as the chairperson of the NOBLE National Civil Rights Committee. She is a trainer for NOBLE’s “Law and Your Community.” Brenda is co-founder and president of the “Retired Detroit Police Members Association,” which was founded in 2014 to fight Detroit’s bankruptcy that adversely affected over 10,000 retirees. She presented a workshop on Detroit’s bankruptcy at NOBLE’s annual conference in Grand Rapids and appeared on a panel at the annual Congressional Black Caucus conference in Washington, DC with the late Congressman John Conyers.

Brenda received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C., a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University and is currently pursuing a doctorate in criminal justice at Walden University. She is a graduate of the 171st class of the FBI National Associates Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Brenda is a member of several police associations, PERF, IACP, FBINAA, NAWLEE, and NOBWLE.

Detroit City Council appointed Brenda to serve as a Commissioner on the City of Detroit’s City Planning Commission which reviews developments and the Neighborhood Opportunity Funding grant (NOF). She is also a licensed real estate professional in the state of Michigan. Brenda has received numerous awards and citations during her career, including the “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” award from the National Center for Women & Policing.