WEST RICHLAND, Wash. — The West Richland Police Department is joining a popular community program that celebrates remarkable children with the annual selection of a “Police Chief for a Day.” The department will choose a child from the community each year that showcases the WRPD characteristics: honor, commitment, integrity and teamwork.
WRPD chose Lana McDowell, local cancer patient who finished chemotherapy in Seattle last month, as the department’s first-ever Chief for a Day.
McDowell’s doctors found a tumor the size of a baseball in her brain when she was only 12. In 2021, she was diagnosed with Choroid Plexus Carcinoma, which is a kind of brain cancer. Doctors removed the tumor, but it was only six months before they found another one. WRPD says this is what started her radiation and chemo treatment at the Seattle Children’s Hospital.
“Throughout all this, Lana has stayed positive and brightens her home with her smile,” said the press release from WRPD Commander Athena Clark. “She also loves helping where she can and will often be found baking in the kitchen. Everyone who knows Lana talks about her smile and warmth.”
“Chief McDowell” will have a fun, busy day as Chief, including a lunch and meeting with local police chiefs, a press conference and fun activities with Chief Thomas Grego on October 3.