CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - A few hundred people gathered inside First Baptist Charlotte Friday morning, to honor and remember the life of a trailblazing figure in Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s police force.

Vicki Foster, the former assistant chief of Charlotte police, died on July 25.

Following a near 30-year career that began in 1991 as a patrol officer, Foster retired in 2020 as the highest-ranking female member of the department.

“She was a pioneer, she didn’t knock on doors of opportunity, she kicked it in,” Charlotte police Chief Johnny Jennings told the attendees Friday. “She didn’t walk the path of success, she sprinted the patch of success.”

Foster was remembered at her funeral for being a fierce advocate for the underdog. As an officer, she championed community policing, mental health

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