Fabienne Brooks was the first Black woman to work as a police detective in the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO). She graduated second in her class at the police academy in 1978, both the only Black person and the only woman in the class. Brooks was hired by the KCSO as a detective and worked in the sex crimes unit, including seven years working on the Green River killer case. In addition to being the first Black woman detective at the Sheriff’s Office, she was the first Black woman to reach the ranks of sergeant, captain, major, and division chief at the KCSO. Brooks was also the first Black woman to attend the Northwest Law Enforcement Command College and the first Black woman from Washington to attend the FBI Academy. Brooks retired from the KCSO in 2004 as the chief of the Criminal Investigations Division. Since leaving the KCSO, she has worked in consulting with a focus on unbiased policing and building trust between law enforcement and their communities.

This portrait shows Fabienne Brooks in 1993, when she was promoted to major in the KCSO. As a major, Brooks was in charge of the Maple Valley precinct and oversaw 100 staff.

Caption information source: “Meet some of the ‘Trailblazing Black women of Washington state’”, by Marilyn Morgan, Seattle Times, June 3, 2022, retrieved from https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/meet-some-of-the-trailblazing-black-women-of-washington-state/
Caption information source: "A dream coming true: call her Maj. Fabienne Brooks," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 16, 1998, page B2.