Title: Sergeant
Workplace: Wilmington Police Department
Age: 35
Working as a public servant in Delaware’s largest city comes with a unique set of challenges that never sway Brittanni Barnes from doing her job as a sergeant with the Wilmington Police Department.
As the only Black woman in leadership at the department and in a male-dominated profession, she strives to serve as a role model by mentoring many of the Delawareans she’s met through nearly a decade serving on the force. She joined the department as a patrol officer in late 2014, earning a rank as corporal in 2018, senior corporal in 2021 and patrol division sergeant in 2023.
Barnes now works as an investigator in the department’s Office of Professional Standards, where she deals with everything from dress code violations to cases of police-involved shootings. Her role, which she has been in since late 2023, is integral to protecting both the public and Wilmington Police Department through “fair, thorough and proactive investigations of allegations of misconduct.”
The fourth-generation public servant also is a 2024 recipient of the She’s on Her Way Award from the Office of Women’s Advancement & Advocacy and the Delaware Women’s Commission. She also is an active member of the Wilmington Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., where she serves on a variety of committees that work with families and children in the community, and volunteers at National Night Out.
Barnes, who earned a master’s degree in criminal justice from Saint Joseph’s University, earned her black belt at age 11 and competed internationally in martial arts. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, working out, shopping at Target, enjoying brunches with bottomless mimosas and spending time with family and friends.
