WASHINGTON (Map, News) - D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier is recruiting a former top Metro police officer to join her command staff, The Examiner has learned.

Lanier is negotiating with former Metro Police Chief Polly Hanson, who retired last month after nearly 30 years with the transit police, according to D.C. police sources.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are supposed to be secret.

Hanson, 52, would serve as another deputy chief, the sources said. A graduate of D.C. schools, Hanson was most recently the top official for safety and security on Metro. Lanier spent time as D.C. police's top security official before Mayor Adrian Fenty promoted her to chief.

Lanier didn't respond to numerous requests for comment. Efforts to reach Hanson were unsuccessful.

Lanier was appointed chief in late 2006. While a popular figure in the city, her image with rank-and-file officers has been taken some recent hits. Many remain angry over the way she handled the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy at the hands of two off-duty officers. Others have expressed worries about her decisions to demote or transfer popular leaders in the department.

Hanson was well-regarded by her colleagues at Metro. She came to the rail and bus service in 1981 after spending four years as a dispatcher with the U.S. Park Police. She served as Metro's police chief for five years before taking over security.

"My brother worked at Metro," she told The Examiner last month. "It was 1981 and the department was just a couple of years old, and my brother thought a woman with a college degree would have opportunities."

bmyers@dcexaminer.com