4 Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard goes way back with recently busted police bigwig Jennifer Lackard — and the two were even sorority sisters. 4 Jennifer Lackard, deputy commissioner of the Mount Vernon Police Department, was charged with attempted murder last week. 4 Jennifer Lackard was hired as deputy commissioner of the Mount Vernon Police Department with no police experience. The now fired deputy commissioner has been charged with attempted murder for the June 29 shooting. “Mount Vernon deserves leadership that accepts responsibility — not leadership that rewrites history.”