Making A Historical Promotion

It’s not every day that you can become a part of history, but in December, Jennifer Gilbert-Duran did so. Last month, I had the honor, privilege and pleasure to promote Lieutenant Jennifer Gilbert-Duran to the rank of captain. As a captain, she is the highest-ranking sworn female ever in the history of the Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Office, which dates back to 1650. That is 367 years to be exact. What an accomplishment and a historic moment!

Jennifer has had an awesome, well-rounded career in the Sheriff’s Office. She was hired in 2000 as a deputy sheriff and assigned to the security bureau. In 2001, she was transferred to the newly formed Domestic Violence Unit. In 2003, she took on a new task and became part of the Civil Process Unit. In 2004, she took her first big leap into first line supervision when she was promoted to the rank of sergeant and began supervising the Civil Process Unit. In 2006, she put on a new hat and took on the role of supervising one of our warrant teams. Jennifer then became part of my administrative staff when I promoted her to rank of lieutenant. At that rank, she was assigned as the assistant security bureau commander, under Captain Steve LaPlanche, where she served for four years. In 2013, she took over as the assistant operations bureau commander, under now-retired Captain Ed Smith. Following Smith’s recent retirement, I saw fit to make Jennifer the acting captain of the operations bureau, where she could apply her vast knowledge and extensive job experiences. I have watched Jennifer grow as an administrator and a leader, and I am confident she will serve the citizens and the agency with pride.

And then, on December 14, 2017, I was honored to give Captain Jennifer Gilbert-Durn my own personal captain’s bars as a Christmas present, pinned on me 18 years ago at the Anne Arundel County Police Department. Congratulations and happy New Year to Jennifer and her husband, Chuck.