By Debbie Adams
Police Captain Cydney McGhee became interested in a career as a police officer when she was in high school. Family members had been involved in both the police and sheriff’s departments, so it came somewhat naturally. That initial interest led to her becoming an intern with the Concord, N.C., Police Department at age 18, which led to a scholarship and a college degree in Criminal Justice from Pfeiffer University. The scholarship was not a gift, but a partnership in which she agreed to work for four years with the agency providing the scholarship—the Concord PD.
In almost 20 years as a police officer, McGhee has advanced from intern to patrol officer to field training officer to detective and eventually to Captain of Criminal Investigations. She has distinguished herself in her local department and beyond. Along the way, she also earned her Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate from the North Carolina Criminal Justice Training and Standards Commission and her Master’s Degree in Business from Pfeiffer. She shares her experiences as an instructor in basic law enforcement at community colleges.
Only 12% of all sworn law enforcement officers are women; she is the highest-ranking female officer in the Concord Police Dept.
McGhee has received acclaim for several special projects she has been involved with including a unique one in community relations–the Concord Horse Mounted Patrol. In November 2018, McGhee submitted a proposal to use her own personally owned horses for special events such as the city’s Tree Lighting Ceremony, Christmas Parade, and Law Day Ceremony—to the delight of the citizens in Concord. McGhee and her partner worked to train their horses not to be afraid of “bands, kids with horns, characters in costume, floats” and other distractions that can occur in a parade.
She recently placed herself among the top 1% of all senior law enforcement professionals in the world with her acceptance at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va., for a course in advanced leadership, communications, and fitness challenges.
The 10-week residential program—which provides coursework in intelligence theory, terrorism and terrorist mindsets, management science, law, behavioral science, law enforcement communication, and forensic science—serves to improve the administration of justice in police departments and agencies at home and abroad and to raise law enforcement standards, knowledge, and cooperation worldwide.
The program was created in 1935 to standardize and professionalize law enforcement departments across the United States.
She was a member of the 289th class at the academy, which consisted of 197 officers (ages 31-61), 23 of whom were women, with officers from 47 American states, four military organizations, five federal civilian organizations, and 23 nations around the world.
McGhee has described the FBI Academy training as “a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a very high honor, and the highest recognized training in law enforcement for leadership training. I’m very appreciative to have been able to go.”
Although the logistics were far from easy– her husband, Todd, is a Major with the Concord Police; she is mother to almost 9-year-old Kellen, and the academy required her to be gone from home for an extended period of time. However, her department saw it as gaining skills, knowledge, and perspectives that would benefit the department and the community.
During her regular job, she is able to work a 12-hour day shift to be home with her son in the evenings. She says he is not yet interested in police work, he’s “a sports kid—track, basketball, football, baseball, travel ball.”
The academy began in early January 2024 and ended in mid-March. McGhee took part in specialized trainings and classes taught by experienced FBI instructors and special agents in a “college atmosphere.” They lived in dorms, attended daily classes, and ate meals in the cafeteria.
Members of the class took part in weekly “Wizard of Oz” themed physical fitness challenges, culminating in the “Yellow Brick Road” challenge, which involved “a grueling 6.1-mile run through a hilly, wooded trail, where they had to climb over walls, run through creeks, jump through simulated windows, scale rock faces with ropes, crawl in muddy water under barbed wire, and maneuver across a cargo net.” When (and if) students complete the course, they receive a yellow brick as a keepsake to memorialize their achievement—McGhee came home with hers.
Graduates received their certificates and a handshake from FBI Director Christopher Wray. They were also able to earn 18 college credits with the University of Virginia to apply towards Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.
McGhee says she will be able to incorporate what she learned at the FBI Academy into her job in many different ways.
She hopes that her new training will benefit others, but also that just her presence as a female officer will be encouraging to other women contemplating entering the field of law enforcement. She says that the reality is that law enforcement is a “male dominated” profession and “sometimes women have to prove themselves a little bit more. However, there is definitely a place for women.”
She enjoys her career because “every day is different; you get to meet good people; you can change people’s days. Usually, we get called on their worst days.” The memories that stick in her mind are most often ones that involve children. “We try to help people and make those who do bad things, stop.”
She wants not only to inspire other women to strive to meet their dreams, but to teach her son that “he can do anything he wants to do.”
Angie Chewning of Vinton is McGhee’s mother; grandmother Bootie Chewning. Her siblings are Drake Lewis (Hannah), Abbie Lewis, and Elena Boitnott.
