Black women have played a vital role in shaping law enforcement across Westchester County, often breaking barriers in institutions that historically excluded both women and African Americans. Their leadership, courage, and commitment to public service have helped transform policing, corrections, and public safety throughout the county.
Women like Rita Gross Nelson, the first Black Policewoman In Westchester County, and Cynthia Hood, the first African American Female Detective In White Plains PD., helped break both racial and gender barriers in Westchester law enforcement. Their courage and leadership helped open doors for the many Black women serving today in police departments, corrections, and investigative roles throughout the country. In observation of Women’s History Month, Black Westchester celebrates some of these Black Women Trailblazers in Law Enforcement in Westchester County.
Delores Johnson – First Black Female New Rochelle Police Captain
On July 11, 1966 – almost a year after Yonkers’ Rita Gross Nelson became the first Black policewoman in Westchester – Delores Johnson became the first Black policewoman with the New Rochelle Police Department (NRPD). She was hired on July 11, 1966.
Johnson was promoted to Sergeant on April 25, 1974, and awarded the Police Commissioner’s Award on January 7, 1977, for general performance. She received the Special Incident Citation on November 30th, 1977, for the Neptune Moving Company Shooting, which occurred on February 14, 1977 – a large-scale incident that made national news. NRPD Officer Allen McLeod was shot and killed by the gunman that day.
She graduated from the FBI National Academy in September 1978 – an 11-week school at the FBI academy in Quantico, VA, for police executives from around the world, and was promoted to Lieutenant on June 19th, 1980. On June 19, 1986, she made history again when she was promoted to Police Captain and put in charge of the Staff Services Division. Born April 20, 1938, to Frank and Harriett Richardson in Wilson, North Carolina. A graduate of High School and attended College in North Carolina, an entrepreneur of a retail Liquor store, and avid bowler with several bowling leagues.
She retired from the NRPD on May 7, 1988, and died on November 22, 2000. A resident of New Rochelle for 25 years, she had three sons, Richard Johnson, Rufus, and Stanley Richardson, two daughters, Marlene Vasquez-Ricketts and Katetrina Hudson, and seven grandchildren. We celebrate Captain Delores Johnson, a true Black Westchester Legend!
Yvonne M. Powell – First Black Female Associate Warden, Westchester Dept. of Corrections
Yvonne M. Powell, who was president of the guardians, First Black Female Associate Warden of the Westchester Department of Corrections – Valhalla Campus, now known as the Norwood E. Jackson correctional facility, named after the facility’s first Black Commissioner on May 6, 2004. She also played a lead role in representing Westchester to the National Black Police Association.
“Yvonne Powell is 5 feet 10 and has a way of entering a room. She doesn’t walk in so much as she arrives, moving unhurriedly with her head held high,” the New York Times wrote in 1994. “Her great aunt, who raised her, taught her that walk, said Ms. Powell, the newest member of the Westchester County Women’s Hall of Fame. The walk, and the imposing carriage, came from standing with her back against a wall for 10 minutes a day to learn posture and a sense of discipline.”
Ms. Powell graduated from Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, where she majored in criminal justice. Ms. Powell said she thought she would become a physical education teacher. After passing three Civil Service examinations, however, she took a job instead as a meter maid in White Plains. Growing bored with that, she moved to a position as a deputy sheriff at the County Jail. It was 1967, and the women’s unit, which now has 242 beds, then had 60 beds. Ms. Powell advanced through Civil Service examinations and evaluations to positions as a corrections officer, sergeant and captain before being made an assistant warden. The climb was not easy. After receiving one of the top scores in the Civil Service test for captain, she was denied the position. “I was told I wouldn’t get the promotion because there wasn’t room for another female captain,” she said. “I decided to fight it, because it was cutting women’s career ladder off.”
She filed a sex discrimination case with the State Division of Human Rights, won, and was prepared to fight for her promotion during the county’s appeal. But County Executive Andrew P. O’Rourke – a Republican – took office, and after reviewing the case, Ms. Powell said, he decided she deserved the promotion. Mr. O’Rourke, who established the county’s Hall of Fame in 1985, recently presented Ms. Powell with her award at a lunch at the Rye Town Hilton. Ms. Powell, who is black, said that while she was not impeded in her career because of her race, racial discrimination remains a fact of life for blacks working as correctional professionals in the county.
While serving as warden, Ms. Powell launched numerous programs at the County Jail that received widespread recognition. The Board of Educational Cooperative Services began certification programs in nail care, building maintenance, and childcare, enabling many women to find jobs after their release. She also started the first program to let the female inmates have their babies with them at the Westchester County Jail instead of placing them in foster care. After retiring from the Westchester County Department of Corrections, she works with troubled youths at Abbott House here, where she is known, said Sister Mary Jane Fitzgibbon, the director of community relations and the person who nominated her for the Hall of Fame, for her professionalism and “quiet energy and strength.”
Black Westchester proudly celebrates Ms. Yvonne M. Powell, a true Black Westchester legend!
MVPD’s Latheia Smith Makes History As First Woman Senior Criminal Investigator In County District Attorney’s Office
March 24, 2022, Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced the promotion of Latheia Smith, the first woman and the first Black woman, to hold the position of Senior Criminal Investigator in the history of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
“Latheia Smith is an extraordinarily talented investigator who has dedicated her life to making her community safer through a career in law enforcement. She shares my vision of a criminal justice system that balances justice for victims with fairness for all involved,” DA Rocah said. “I am proud to promote Investigator Smith in recognition of her many exceptional talents, skills, and achievements. Making this Office truly representative of the diversity of the communities we serve by having women and women of color in leadership positions in law enforcement is critically important, and I remain committed to this as one of my top priorities.”
Smith a mother of four, who became a Mount Vernon Police officer 18 years ago, will now be leading other investigations in the special prosecutions division while handling her own load of cases, making history during Women’s History Month.
“Working at the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office has provided me with the opportunity to serve the County that I live in by working cases and assisting agencies with their investigations,” Investigator Smith said. “As a law enforcement officer, my ability to help victims and their families while they are going through a criminal matter is incredibly rewarding. I’m thrilled to be promoted to Senior Criminal Investigator and am proud to not only be the first woman in that role, but also the first Black woman.”
Investigator Smith began her career in 2003 with the Mount Vernon Police Department, where she worked on and investigated a wide range of cases in the General Investigations Division, Narcotics Division and Street Crime. Her dedication and experience handling confidential informants, securing search warrants, and successfully coordinating criminal investigations with other law enforcement agencies resulted in her being promoted to Detective.
In 2009, Investigator Smith joined the District Attorney’s Office Criminal Investigators Squad, where she has investigated and assisted in the prosecution of homicides, sexual assaults, child abuse, elder abuse, narcotics cases, and domestic violence. Investigator Smith, who is currently assigned to the Criminal Investigators Special Prosecutions Unit, oversees investigations into matters including human trafficking, sex crimes, domestic violence, elder abuse and child abuse.
Serapher Conn – Halevi – First Female Marshall in Westchester
Serapher Conn-Halevi is the first woman in Westchester County to serve as City Marshall. She is the founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the first African American school in Westchester County, known as New Beginnings Educational Institute dba Bereshith Cultural Institute, Inc, based in Mount Vernon, New York. Serapher was the owner of Right Move, a moving company she founded in 1998. She is active and involved with the youth, seniors, landlords, and tenants in her community and political leaders in the state of New York. On Monday, September 27, 2004, she was elected by to the Mount Vernon City Democratic Committee as the first women Voted in as the Chairwoman of the Mount Vernon Democratic City Committee
Ms. Conn-Halevi has served on numerous committees and boards. She served as the past president of the Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus (Mount Vernon Chapter). She served as second vice chair of the Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center and the Greenburgh Health Center Board. She served as first vice chair of the Mount Vernon City Committee, as well as a District Leader. She served as Vice President of Public Relations for the Minority Contractors Association of Westchester. She also chaired the African American Caribbean Family Day in Mount Vernon, which she hosted for fourteen years, with over five thousand in attendance. She was appointed Legislator Aide to Assemblyman James Gary Pretlow. She also served as financial secretary to the Black Democrats of Westchester County.
Below is a brief list of some of the Black Women Who Paved the Way in Westchester Law Enforcement.
1965 – Rita Gross Nelson became the first woman of color to serve as a patrol cop in Westchester County as a member of the Yonkers Police Department. Fredricka Hreyo is the second Black woman to join the Yonkers force.
January 6, 1967 – Helen Littleberry was sworn in as the first African American female White Plains Police Officer. She retired in 1987.
June 19, 1986 – Delores Johnson becomes the first Black female Captain in the New Rochelle Police Dept.
December 8, 2003 – Cynthia Hood shattered the glass ceiling by becoming the first African-American Female Detective in the White Plains Police Department.
March 14, 2005 – Detective Cynthia J Hood was promoted to the Rank of Sergeant, making her the first and only female of African American descent ever in the history of the City of White Plains Police Department to hold this position. (It would be seventeen years before another African American woman would be promoted to Sergeant.)
December 13, 2011 – Jennifer Carpenter became the first Black Female Supervisor in the Mount Vernon Police Department when she was promoted to Sergeant
October 19, 2019 – Krista Mann became the first African America Female Lieutenant of the Mount Vernon Police Department when she was promoted by then-Mayor Andre Wallace.
March 24, 2022 – Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah promoted Latheia Smith, the first woman and the first Black woman, to hold the position of Senior Criminal Investigator in the history of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
2023 – Mona Berry-Cauthen made history as the first Black female to serve as Deputy Commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Probation, a high-level executive position where she is responsible for overseeing departmental operations and staff. This was a significant milestone in the history of the department, which has a legacy dating back to 1915.
March 14, 2024 – Major Treneé D. Young, while serving on the New York State Police, had deep ties to the county. She was assigned to Troop K in Somers for eight years starting in 2007. She later became the first Black woman in the NY State Police to earn the permanent rank of Lieutenant in 2021, Captain in 2024, and eventually reached the rank of Major in 2025
In February 2026, Lieutenant Khalia Carter became the first African American woman promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the Peekskill Police Department’s 177-year history.
These are excerpts from the book, “Black Westchester Celebrates Black Women Of Westchester,” available on Amazon or email BlackWestchesterMag@gmail.com to purchase your autographed copies.
