The Metropolitan Police Department’s assistant chief will lead the department on an interim basis after Cathy Lanier, the current chief, leaves next month.

Peter Newsham, the department’s assistant chief, will take over for Lanier Sept. 17, NBC Washington reported Tuesday.

Newsham has been MPD’s assistant chief and was head of the Office of Professional Responsibility, the Investigative Services Bureau and MPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, according to an MPD website.

He was hired to the department in 1989 and served as commander of MPD’s second district, which includes GW’s Foggy Bottom campus.

Newsham holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross and a law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law.

Lanier announced last Tuesday that she will leave MPD after 26 years to serve as the NFL’s head of security.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press conference Tuesday that the internal and external search for a permanent chief has already begun, according to the Washington Times.