Tracie Keesee didn't become police chief, but she's an Outstanding Woman

By Patricia Calhoun Tue., May 1 2012 at 6:52 AM

Categories: Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

Tracie Keesee.

She wasn't named chief of the Denver Police Department -- although she was rumored to be a leading contender until Michael Hancock decided to go outside of the DPD to tap Robert White. But tonight Captain Tracie Keesee will get another honor: She's the alumni recipient of the 2012 Outstanding Women Awards.

The awards, hosted by the Institute for Women's Studies and Services and Metropolitan State College of Denver, are now in their 25th year. The tradition was started to raise funds for the Pamela McIntyre Marcum Memorial Scholarship Award, named for the marketing department faculty member who was shot and killed by her estranged husband in a campus parking lot circa 1987.

The Outstanding Women Awards will be presented at a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. tonight at the Tattered Cover in LoDo, 628 16th Street. Although Keesee is out of town and can't attend, there will certainly be many other outstanding women on hand. (We'll update this post with a list of all the honorees.)

Tickets are $5 for students, $15 for non-students, and all proceeds go to the Pamela McIntyre Memorial Scholarship Fund. For more information, call 303-556-8441.

Before the DPD was making headlines for cops behaving badly, Tracie Keesee was doing groundbreaking research on racial profiling. Read our cover story "Target Practice" here.