In the television show Law and Order: L.A., the county’s top law enforcement officer is a white man.

If Jackie Lacey, the current second-in-command in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, and a recently-announced candidate for election next year as the county’s first woman and African-American district attorney wins the job, the TV show’s producers may have to flip their script.

If chosen, Lacey will succeed her boss, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, who is retiring and supports her election, as the lead prosecutor.

A Lacey victory may also show other Black women that running their city or county’s top law enforcement agency is a great stepping stone. Lacey’s journey would follow that of California’s current Attorney General, Kamala D. Harris.

Harris, a Howard Univerisity graduate, is the first Black, and Asian-American, to serve as the state’s top cop. She was elected San Francisco District Attorney in 2003 and reelected in 2007.

Lacey, a native Angeleno, has the experience, and background, to be the next Los Angeles County District Attorney. For nearly 25 years, she has worked as the leader of every major division in the DA’s office including major narcotics and street gangs. In her announcement video, she spoke about what she wants to accomplish. “Under my leadership, the district attorney’s office will continue to decrease violent crime by vigorously prosecuting violent criminals," she said.

Lacey is a graduate of the U.S.C. Law School, and her father and mother work respectively as a cleaner for the city, and a garment worker.

Of the five other announced candidates for L.A. County District Attorney, two, Bobbi Grace and Danette Myers, are Black.

(Photo: Courtesy of Jackie Lacey)