Celisa Lehew
Current Chapel Hill chief of police and president of the NC Police Executives Association.
Chief Celisa Lehew serves as the Chief of Police for the Chapel Hill Police Department, where she leads the department’s dedicated professionals known as the Guardians of the Hill. With more than two decades of law enforcement experience, she is recognized for advancing innovative policing through strong community partnerships, organizational excellence, and compassionate leadership.
Under her leadership, the department has implemented nationally recognized initiatives focused on crisis response, employee wellness, technology, response appropriateness, and community engagement. Chief Lehew is a frequent national speaker on leadership, ethics, organizational culture, investigations, crisis response, officer wellness, and community policing.
Chief Lehew currently serves as President of the North Carolina Police Executive Association. She is also the United States Director on the Global Board of SecurityWomen, a Board Member of the Police Treatment and Community Collaborative (PTACC), and serves on the Orange County Criminal Justice Advisory Council and Orange County Local Reentry Council.
She is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE).
Chief Lehew holds a Master of Justice Administration degree from Methodist University, a Bachelor’s degree from Lake Superior State University, and is a graduate of the Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP).