'', Police officer Maurice Cullinane patiently reasons with a two-year-old boy In 1954 Cullinane became a police officer in the
Washington Metropolitan Police Department. His nickname was "Cully". Cullinane was a police lieutenant during the
1968 Washington, D.C., riots. During the riots there was significant property damage and 13 deaths. Only two fatalities were attributed to Washington, D.C., police officer actions. In 2018 Cullinane said, For that I was proud of my department. They were not going to kill somebody to save a window from getting broken or to save a liquor store. In 1973 Cullinane was promoted to the rank of Assistant Chief of Police, and he became the
Chief of Police in 1974. Cullinane's retirement as a police officer in 1978 was for a job-related disability. While working a demonstration against the Vietnam War in 1968 he had an injury to his knee and he was eligible to retire and collect US$31,000 a year for the remainder of his life. After his 1978 retirement from the police department, Cullinane became the Chairman of the Committee to promote Washington. He earned his bachelor's degree from
American University in 1977 while he was still the chief of police. ==Personal life==