Chief of Police (July 1989-September 1992)
Isaac Fulwood Jr. grew up on Capitol Hill and graduated from Eastern High School. He joined the Metropolitan Police Department in 1964 and began as an officer assigned to the 5th Precinct.
Throughout his early career, Officer Fulwood went on to handle several different assignments from Community Services Officer to Internal Affairs Investigator. He rose through the ranks to Deputy Chief and commanded both the Sixth and First Patrol Districts. By 1986, Deputy Chief Fulwood was promoted to Assistant Chief in charge of Field Operations.
When Isaac Fulwood became Chief of Police in 1989, he took command when the city was entering one of the most tumultuous periods in its history. He was Chief of Police as the crack cocaine epidemic spread, when the city’s Mayor was arrested for possession of crack cocaine and the most serious riot Washington had seen since 1968 erupted in The Mount Pleasant section of the city.
Chief Fulwood had to contend with a rising homicide rate, and a mandate to quickly swell the department’s ranks with new recruits to stem the tide of violence. He was credited with maintaining order following the controversial result of the Los Angeles police brutality trial involving Rodney King. The Chief was said to have a cool steady hand, as no violence erupted in Washington, but racial unrest raged in other major cities.
His career was marked by several innovative anti-drug initiatives, Community Empowerment Policing (CEP), as well as his great concern for the city’s troubled youth. Chief Fullwood retired in 1992, as the homicide rate began to fall and was immediately tasked to head Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly’s Youth Initiative.
On November 2, 1992, he became the Executive Director of the Mayor's Youth Initiative Office, with the responsibility of managing, planning, and directing a comprehensive array of developmental programs and activities for children and youth. Chief Fulwood received an Honorary Docotorate of Human Letters from the Southeastern University on June 21, 1992.
Chief Fulwood served as Senior Marketing Representative for Pepsi Cola, Washington, D.C., from 1993-1994 and served as consultant to the Systems Planning Corporation on the use and development of military equipment for use by civilian law enforcement organizations (1993-1994).
Chief Fulwood was subsequently employed with the Department Of Justice as Chairman of the United States Parole Commission and remained involved with the Metropolitan Police Department. Chairman Fulwood was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of the District of Columbia where he taught Law Enforcement subjects, Community Policing, and Ethics in Law Enforcement. Additionally, he served as special assistant recruiting law enforcement personnel for enrollment, exclusively, at the University of the District of Columbia. Chief Fulwood passed away on September 1, 2017.