Melissa Hyatt 

Melissa R. Hyatt serves as a subject matter expert for the Policing Lab, consultant for 21st Century Policing Solutions, and principal for Cobalt Strategies, LLC. She most recently served as Senior Advisor to the Director and then Assistant Director for the United States Marshals Service, standing up the organization’s first office of law enforcement partnerships. In June 2019, Hyatt was sworn in as Baltimore County’s 14th Police Chief. She brought transformative changes to the agency, focusing on employee safety and wellness, advancement of technology, training, and equipment, adoption and use of the Incident Command System, and investment in community engagement. Hyatt served over 20 years with the Baltimore (City) Police Department, holding positions of Chief of Staff, Chief of Patrol, Chief of the Special Operations Division, and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT). She retired at the rank of Colonel to become Vice President for Security for Johns Hopkins Medicine and Johns Hopkins University, with global security responsibilities for the enterprise. Hyatt holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Delaware and a Master’s from Johns Hopkins University. She is a graduate of the FBI’s National Academy, Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s Executive Leaders Program, and Major Cities Chiefs Police Executive Leadership Institute. Hyatt served on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Chiefs of Police and as Chair of the Emerging Issues Committee for the Major Cities Chiefs Association. She is also a past President of the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association. Hyatt currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Baltimore Humane Society and for Special Olympics Maryland. Melissa is a Fellow of the Civil Society Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.