100 Years of Women in Law Enforcement: 1910-2010 by Faircount Media Group

100 Years of

Women in Law Enforcement

1910

LAWPOA Cover fnl.pdf 1

2010

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ongratulations to the women of the Los Angeles Police Department as they celebrate 100 years of women on their department. We all owe a debt of gratitude to these early

pioneers who paved the way for the rest of us.

It has been my privilege to work with many women from the LAPD over the years and I have always found them to be very professional officers and excellent role models.

And, so that the work of our early pioneers continues, I hope that each and every woman on the LAPD today will work hard to not only increase the numbers of women in their department, but also to remove any remaining barriers to full equality!

We are all Sisters-In-Law.

Sincerely, Chief Penny E. Harrington Former Chief of Police, Portland, Oregon Founding Director, National Center for Women & Policing

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To the Courageous Women in Law Enforcement:

Congratulations on the 100th anniversary of the appointment of the world’s first female police officer. You are the living legacy of Alice Stebbins Wells—her courage, her strength and her vision—and it is an honor to celebrate with you. After Ms. Stebbins Wells was issued “Policewoman’s Badge Number One” in 1910, two years went by before the next two women joined the force. But since then, thousands of women like you have demonstrated what it looks like when a woman in law enforcement excels in her mission to protect and to serve. I obviously also owe a debt of gratitude to Alice. I don’t know if the role of Detective Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” would exist if it weren’t for her. But I owe the same debt of gratitude to all of you, because it is your tireless work in our cities, neighborhoods and communities that inspires me—and all of us on the show—to tell the stories we are so privileged to tell. What we as actors experience is only a reflection of what you deal with every day. You encounter human beings when they are at their most vulnerable, and it is in situations like these that your dedication, your expertise, your compassion and your humanity are so remarkable. A commitment to serving those who are most vulnerable also inspired me to launch the Joyful Heart Foundation in 2004, whose mission it is to heal, educate and empower survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, and to shed light into the darkness that surrounds these issues. We have heard many survivors tell their stories, and so often their stories have a hero—and that hero is a cop. On behalf of the survivors we’ve served and will continue to serve, thank you. Congratulations again to all of you on this grand occasion. I applaud you for being what Alice Stebbins Wells envisioned, and for carrying her brave work forward into the next hundred years. God bless you.

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Images courtesy of LAWPOA and the Los Angeles Police Historical Society

100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

100 Years of Women in Law Enforcement Table of Contents Letters Dr. Deborah A. Gonzales, Detective Supervisor, Los Angeles Police Department and President, LAWPOA...................................................................................3 Jane Townsley, President, International Association of Women Police.........................................5 Chief Penny Harrington, Former Chief of Police, Portland, Oregon, and Founding Director, National Center for Women and Policing.............................................7 Chief Cathy Lanier, Chief of Police, Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.C...................9 Mariska Hargitay, Joyful Heart Foundation...................................................................................11 Features Los Angeles Women Police Officers and Associates A brief history of the longest-running women’s law enforcement organization in the United States...................................................18 By Craig Collins “Legendary Ladies” of the LAPD ..............................................................25 By Gail Ryan LAWPOA Membership...............................................................................32 By David A. Brown From the Patrol Car to the Chief’s Chair These L.A. women broke new ground..............................................................34 By Michael A. Robinson

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Images courtesy of LAWPOA and the Los Angeles Police Historical Society AP Photo/Jason Redmond

100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

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100 Years of Women in Law Enforcement

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100 Years of

Women in LaW enforcement

1910

LAWPOA Cover fnl.pdf 1

2010

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Publishers Ross W. Jobson Peter M. Antell Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Roberts lawrence.roberts@faircount.com Vice President, Business Development Robin Jobson robin.jobson@faircount.com Senior Project Manager Bob Wilson bob.wilson@faircount.com Advertising Account Executives Zac Cline, Annette Dragon Paul Martin, Charlie Poe Controller Robert John Thorne robert.thorne@faircount.com Chief Information Officer John Madden john.madden@faircount.com IT Assistant Anson Alexander Webmaster Clyde Sanchez

Contributing Writers Vera Marie Badertscher David A. Brown Craig Collins Rich Cooper Charles Dervarics Dr. Deborah A. Gonzales Dr. Fonda Na’Desh Gail Ryan Michael A. Robinson Editor in Chief Charles Oldham chuck.oldham@faircount.com Senior Editor Ana E. Lopez Editors Rhonda Carpenter Iwalani Kahikina Assistant Editor Steven Hoarn Art Director Robin K. McDowall Design and Production Daniel Mrgan Lorena Noya Kenia Y. Perez Ad Traffic Manager Rebecca Laborde Production Assistant Lindsey Brooks Sales Support Joshua J. Roberts Badges on cover courtesy of Jim Ungari

Assistant to the Publisher Alexis Vars Office Administrator Aisha Shazer

©Copyright 2010, Faircount Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of editorial content in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Faircount Media Group does not assume responsibility for the advertisements, nor any representation made therein, nor the quality or deliverability of the products themselves. Reproduction of articles and photographs, in whole or in part, contained herein is prohibited without expressed written consent of the publisher, with the exception of reprinting for news media use. Printed in the United States of America.

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www.ERBADGE.com 800-581-3535 or 323-278-1999 Fax: 323-278-1980 2425 S. GARFIELD AVENUE, LOS ANGELES, CA 90040

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100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

LOS ANGELES WOMEN POLICE OFFICERS AND ASSOCIATES A brief history of the longest-running women’s law enforcement organization in the United States By Craig Collins

Left: Margaret Boyd was sworn in as president of the Los Angeles Policewomen’s Association in the late 1940s. Right: Members of the Los Angeles Policewomen’s Association discuss plans for a pension system at one of their monthly meetings.

All images courtesy of LAWPOA and the Los Angeles Police Historical Society

he policewomen in the Los Angeles Police Department in 1914 – four of them – could be forgiven for thinking they weren’t really law enforcement officers. Confined to monitoring female jail inmates and juvenile criminals, they probably saw nothing objectionable about the department’s establishment of what it called the City Mother’s Bureau, with a head matron, Aletha Gilbert, known as the City Mother. It was the City Mother’s job to counsel juveniles and, if necessary, coax confessions from them. When the City Mother’s Bureau was disbanded 49 years later and its functions transferred to social welfare agencies, it made obvious what every woman in the department already knew: To their superiors and their male colleagues, they were social workers with badges. This likely wasn’t even a problem for Marguerite Curley, the 6-foot-tall firebrand who was known to walk her beat in the San Pedro Division alone. But in 1925, five years into her career, Curley was outraged by a proposal, put forth by the city council, to “civilianize” policewomen – essentially, to take away their retirement benefits and cease funding any

training programs. Alice Stebbins Wells, the department’s first policewoman, was eager to organize the women of the LAPD into a force that could stop the city council’s plan. On April 23, 1925, Wells summoned all policewomen to an emergency meeting, during which the Policewomen’s Association of Los Angeles was formed. Curley was voted the organization’s first leader, and her powerful presence and strong leadership helped to defeat the city’s plan. The new organization provided a model for others, such as the California Women Peace Officers Association.

A Social Organization After the victory of the association’s founding campaign, most Los Angeles policewomen seemed, if not completely satisfied, at least no longer upset with their roles in the department. They were small in number – by 1930, only about 35 women served – and neither wore uniforms nor carried guns. It was out of the question that they would ever become ranking officers in the department.

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LAWPOA 100 years of women in Law enforcement

By all accounts, the Policewomen’s Association, without a cause to rally its members, served mostly as an informal social club for the next few decades. Nan Allomong, a policewoman who joined the LAPD in 1948, remembers it as being very loosely organized: “I don’t remember any constitutions, bylaws, or anything like that,” she said. “But I held an office one year. I think I was the sergeant of arms, because I had a big mouth and nobody else wanted the job.” Allomong, who retired in the early 1970s, remembers the organization mostly for its fashion shows – an annual fundraising event, held at the police academy – and for its parties and luncheons. Augusta Bell, who worked with Allomong in the intelligence division after spending several years in juvenile justice, was president of the Policewomen’s Association from 1966 to 1967. Bell longed for more respect from her male colleagues. In the intelligence division, she said, “I took a lot of abuse. I would work with a male officer and we’d go out surveilling someone. We’d be posing as a couple. I was told by several of them: ‘We don’t need any of your input. You’re just here for atmosphere. Do you understand?’ But after a while, we convinced them that, hey, we could remember license numbers. We got through that. But it was a hard time convincing a lot of men that women could do the job.” Members of the Policewomen’s Association did what they could to help each other in light of such treatment. Margaret “Peggy” York, who joined the police department in 1968 and became its first female deputy chief in 2000, remembers an association that actively supported new policewomen. “One of the things the association gave us at a ceremony when we

passed probation is a Gamewell key” – a key for opening corner call boxes on city streets – “that was engraved with our name and our serial number. In fact, I still carry it, some 40 years later ... It meant something when you got it. It was a functioning tool. That made an impression on me, and I was immediately interested in the association.” York and her female colleagues still made up a fairly small percentage of the Los Angeles Police Department, and the organization hadn’t really considered itself an advocacy organization since its founding in 1925. The limits of a policewoman’s career had long been established: There were two police academies, one for men and one for women, as well as gender-specific roles in the department. Women cops worked the jails, juvenile crime, sex crimes, the business office, or other desk jobs. Barred from field work, they could not advance beyond the rank of sergeant. At the end of the 1960s, York and her colleagues were about to see the association become much more interesting.

“Kicking and Screaming into the Future” In 1970, as Congress began debating the Equal Rights Amendment, Los Angeles Police Chief Ed Davis was establishing his legacy as a strict law-and-order cop whose talk was both tough and colorful, earning him the nickname “Crazy Ed.” In their 2005 book Policewomen: Life with the Badge, authors Sandra Wells and Betty Sowers recorded a typical Davis remark: “Ed Davis, Los Angeles Police Chief, told women that they did not belong in patrol cars and that they could not

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100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

Opposite page: Patricia Berry, pictured in the center of the front row, was the first woman to complete the LAPD’s “unisex” training program. She earned her badge in October 1973. Right: The array of LAPD police uniforms for women during Daryl Gates’ (pictured) time as chief illustrates both the advances females made in the way of attaining different roles on the force (uniforms for pilots and members of mounted units are pictured) as well as the consideration of inherent differences between men and women: A maternity uniform is shown at far right.

be trusted with guns ‘during that time of the month.’” Given such remarks, Los Angeles policewomen couldn’t deny their chief was hostile to women, but on Jan. 13, 1971, Policewomen’s Association President Shilah Johnson invited him to clarify his position on the role of women in law enforcement before association members at the Parker Center Auditorium. Even by his already loose standards of speech, Davis’ address was shocking, recalled Jan Carlson, who joined the force in 1968 and retired as a captain in 1993: “He made a statement that there would be women working patrol when the Rams had a woman in their backfield.” Women, Davis said, were no longer wanted or needed by the LAPD. Davis meant what he said. According to Rita Knecht, who served the LAPD from 1967 to 2000 and retired as a lieutenant, he promptly authorized a hiring freeze for women. “After that meeting,” she said, “he really wanted to phase out policewomen, and he quit hiring them. And through attrition and people retiring, we went from about 160 down to about 120.” Overnight, the L.A. Policewomen’s Association became much more than a social club. After Davis’ address, a meeting was called to discuss his remarks. What to do about them, interestingly, wasn’t a unanimous opinion among members, recalled Carlson: “You almost had two different camps

within the Policewomen’s Association back then, some wanting to make changes and others fearing that if you started messing with the status quo it would affect their salaries. I chose the camp that was going to try and make some changes. There were five of us who ultimately went to Pat Russell, who was a city councilwoman at the time, to try to get her to do what was necessary to bring about these changes.” Meanwhile, a policewoman who desperately wanted to be sergeant, and who had lobbied the Police Commission and the City Council for years, to no avail, decided upon another tactic. Fanchon Blake, a former president of the Policewomen’s Association, filed a sex-discrimination lawsuit against the department in 1973. While the Policewomen’s Association as a whole supported the lawsuit, its members remained divided. With Councilwoman Russell on its side, and after presenting a position paper on the issue to the Police Commission, the Policewomen’s Association won a concession from the department in the spring of 1973: The women’s police academy was discontinued, and promotions beyond sergeant would be allowed if the candidate agreed to return to the men’s academy for completion of a “unisex” training program. The first policewoman to do so – the department’s first unisex officer – was Patricia Berry, who earned her badge in October of 1973.

“Ed Davis,” said Carlson, “was sort of dragged kicking and screaming into the future.” While women had technically earned equal status, significant barriers remained. For example, a height requirement of 5 feet, 8 inches kept many, if not most, women from working patrol. Most important, Davis and the department still had yet to articulate clearly how many women police officers they intended to have on the force. Given Davis’ prior statements, nobody’s expectations were high. As Blake’s lawsuit dragged on and the issue became increasingly contentious within the department, the Policewomen’s Association all but disbanded, existing in name only from 1974 to 1979. When the landmark settlement was reached in 1980, the court ordered the department to discontinue the separate job descriptions of policeman and policewoman – all new sworn employees were given “police officer” badges – and to lower the height requirement to 5 feet even. The court ordered financial compensation to Blake, other policewomen who had missed out on promotional opportunities, and to female candidates who had been disqualified for not meeting the old height requirement. Most important, it issued consent decrees that required the department to have 20 percent of each recruit class composed of women, 20 percent African-Americans, and 20 percent Hispanics, until the ratio of

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LAWPOA 100 years of women in Law enforcement

Left: Jan Carlson joined the LAPD in 1968 and retired as a captain in 1993. She recalls that remarks made by Chief Ed Davis spurred members of the Los Angeles Policewomen’s Association to fight for equal treatment for LAPD women and for those who wished to become officers. Above: LAWPOA President Deborah Gonzales (left) with Judge Lance Ito and Margaret “Peggy” York. In 2000, York became the LAPD’s first female deputy chief.

each protected class on the LAPD equaled the ratio for the workforce of the City of Los Angeles. After the issues of the 1970s – or at least the most hotly disputed ones – had finally been put to rest by the court, the association was reactivated as the Los Angeles Women Police Officers Association (LAWPOA). But as Patty Fogerson – one of the first female police officers – explained, it was difficult to generate much interest in the organization. “There wasn’t any political purpose, or any reason for us to report to the department,” said Fogerson, who was president of the association from 1981 to 1982. “There was a lack of interest, because once the new people came on, the police officers, they were more concerned about getting through the academy and surviving in the streets. And also I think the newer women, when they first came on, thought they were better than the women who were already on the job because they were ‘field certified’ and they were on patrol, and of course they were under the influence of a lot of guys.” The association had lapsed again into something of a social club. Even Carlson, who had been so active in the association during the fight for equal treatment, admitted: “After we went through all of the turmoil in the ’70s, I just kind of got involved in my own career and working odd hours, and I just didn’t really have much interest in being that active a member.”

A New Purpose Women who joined the force after 1980 had differing impressions of the association. To some, like Paula Feinmark

(now Dustman), LAWPOA’s president from 2002 to 2004, it was an indispensable means of support when she joined the department in 1983. “It was nice just to get together and share job experiences with the other women,” she said, “because we were so spread apart. The L.A. area is so big. The promotional process, too, was very confusing. So it was nice to talk to other women about that and how to promote, great people like Patty Fogerson. And Peggy York – she was a woman who promoted and helped other women promote. She is the one I would say was my mentor. She was really a great person.” Another officer to join in the 1980s was Deborah Gonzales – who, at 5 feet, 5 inches tall, had wanted to become an officer for years, and enrolled at the academy as soon as the height requirement was dropped. She wasn’t even aware of LAWPOA until after she had been with the department for several years, and then she knew of it only as the organization that held luncheons for retired policewomen – a group it called the Legendary Ladies. “Quite frankly,” said Gonzales, “I thought it was just a retired policewomen’s group that sat around and drank tea at LAWPOA social events, talking about how things were 20 years before I came on. I didn’t respect the road these women paved until many years later.” When Gonzales became president of LAWPOA in 2004, she and her colleagues saw much unrealized potential within the nearly 80-year-old organization. “We started asking: How can we get ourselves out there, get our name known, enhance our purpose so that it really benefits people? And how can we gain more members?”

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100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

Former presidents of LAWPOA are pictured with the 2004 LAWPOA officers. From left are prior presidents Lieutenant Anita McKeown, Captain Ann Young, and Detective Paula Dustman, and 2004 board members Detective Deborah Gonzales (president), Officer Fran Briscoe (treasurer), Detective Chris Ruedas (3rd vice president), MA II Grace Hsieh (secretary), Sergeant Mary Kite (2nd vice president), and Sergeant Catherine Plows (1st vice president). The solutions to these questions were implemented in rapid succession. LAWPOA began offering one-hour catered lunchtime workshops, delivered at the police academy, in which guest speakers addressed the association on topics such as leadership, criminal justice, the promotional process, and creating a positive working environment. The association also began to raise funds for a scholarship program. “LAWPOA has always offered each member at least a $200 annual scholarship to attend professional conferences,” said Gonzales. “And in about 2007 we said: Let’s give scholarships for college, as well.” Every year, three women who are enrolled in college and have submitted a statement of purpose to the association are awarded a $1,000 scholarship to help with educational costs. LAWPOA continues to offer at least a $200 scholarship – in some cases, more – to each of its members annually to attend a conference or other training function. In 2010, LAWPOA planned to undertake its most ambitious training initiative to date: a one-day leadership conference, open to LAWPOA members and any other department employees who wanted to attend, at Los Angeles’ Kyoto Hotel, where several featured speakers would address guests. “This is an all-inclusive conference,” said Gonzales. “We’re trying not to separate it by calling it a ‘woman’s’ anything. It is a professional training and development conference. Maybe next year we’ll try for a twoday event.” The association has also established an award program to recognize outstanding mentors and leaders on the department. Now called the Leadership Excellence Award, it is available to both men and women, members or non-members.

Each year, two awards are bestowed: one for a sworn employee and one for a civilian. The effort to be more inclusive – to end the divisive practice of separating the issues of men and women, and of officers and civilians, on the police force – has led LAWPOA to extend membership to anyone who supports its mission – even to those outside the LAPD. “It takes more than just women cops to make the organization run,” reasoned Gonzales. “We were excluding 2,000 women civilian employees who would like to be a part of this kind of organization, who supported what we were doing: developing and training women leaders in law enforcement. You don’t have to be sworn to be a leader in law enforcement.” After expanding membership eligibility, LAWPOA tweaked its name, calling itself Los Angeles Women Police Officers and Associates – while keeping the acronym. Today, about a third of the association – 520 members strong, compared to 200 when Gonzales became president – is comprised of civilian employees. In the last year of her presidency, Gonzales said the future of LAWPOA will be up to the new board of directors, but she believes it will carry on and continue to develop its newfound purpose: to train and develop women leaders in law enforcement. This will undoubtedly mean new partnerships forged; new sponsors for education, training opportunities, and professional advancement. “We’re very busy with our training and development programs,” she said, “and we’re kind of excited about them, because they’ve really put us on the map. You can’t visit the department Web site without seeing our name somewhere. I’m hearing it more and more, which excites me – because it’s about time.”

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100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

The LAPD Juvenile Bureau, 1914. Pictured from left to right are Alice Stebbins Wells, Anna Hamm, Aletha Gilbert, Rachel Shatto, Elizabeth Feeley, Lorel Boyles, Loretta McPeek, Lillian Toomey, and Leo Marden.

“LEGENDARY LADIES” OF THE LAPD By Gail Ryan

Courtesy of George and Helene Staininger

he history of women in law enforcement on the Los Angeles Police Department goes back to 1888. Mrs. Lucy Gray, a widow with 10 children, became the first police matron, in 1888 at the age of 48, for the city of Los Angeles. A Mrs. H.A. Watson had been appointed just prior by the city council, but she never served. This appointment was some 32 years before women would be given the right to vote. Gray would spend the next 16 years living in the city jail 24/7. Her family would live down the street, cared for by her older daughter. A scant 100 pounds, Gray was successful in reforming female offenders and working with juvenile offenders of the day. She also served as a nurse for injured inmates in the jail, both male and female. In addition, she filled in as a detective when a female or juvenile was involved in a case not deemed appropriate for a male officer to handle. Eventually Gray’s workload became so great that she was given an assistant, Mrs. Aletha Gilbert, her own daughter. Gilbert became head matron in 1904 following her mother’s death. Eventually she became a policewoman and then in 1914 City Mother. She would gain

international prominence due to her abilities in dealing with delinquent children and their parents. The City Mother’s Bureau was recognized by Scotland Yard as the first Police Department Crime Prevention Bureau in the world. Gilbert’s sister, Lorel Boyles, also became a matron, the fourth, and then a policewoman. They would be the first sisters who served as sworn officers for the LAPD. The third matron was Mrs. Loretta McPeek, who also went on to become a policewoman, followed by the fifth matron, Mrs. Elizabeth Feeley. In 1903, Little Nellie Truelove, a staff captain of the Salvation Army, was granted a commission by Mayor Meredith Snyder to wear the nickel star and swing a club as a “special officer.” However, her activities were confined to the rescue home that she sponsored. In 1906, Miss Jessie McDonald of the Salvation Army was appointed to the position of a “special officer” to serve without pay by the Police Commission. She was given a police star and authority to apprehend, but no weapons. McDonald was given her commission because she was a matron of the

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LAWPOA 100 years of women in Law enforcement

Salvation Army’s house of refuge on Griffith Avenue and her mission was one of mercy for helpless young children and women. In Los Angeles’s red light district, she was called a friend by all. And as a trained nurse with police powers, she was at liberty to enter the city jail at all times of day. Then, in 1909, a small preacher in the Indian Territory turned social worker, Alice Stebbins Wells, stood before Mayor George Alexander and the City Council and petitioned to become a sworn policewoman. The petition was passed and on Sept. 12, 1910, she became the Los Angeles Police Department’s first sworn policewoman with full arrest powers. This would also make her the first sworn policewoman in the United States and in the world. She went on to literally change history with her views. Born in Manhattan, Kan., on June 13, 1873, Alice Stebbins had graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio and from Hartford Theological Seminary. She went on to become a Bible lecturer and belonged to the Woman’s Christian Temperance, and

eventually was sent to Oklahoma to take charge of a little church in Indian Territory. It was there that she met and married Frank Wells, a Wisconsin farmer. By the turn of the century, the couple had moved on to Los Angeles with their son and daughter. Wells continued her preaching in the wild city, which for most of the first half of the century was a corrupt, vice-ridden town. By 1937, there were 1,800 bookmakers, 600 whorehouses, and 200 gambling dens in Los Angeles. A staunch advocate for the needs of women and children, Wells endured a long struggle to convince the men of that generation, who were yet unwilling to let women vote let alone accept them in business, to allow her to become a police officer. The police department especially considered itself to be a man’s world, and the public so regarded it, until Wells stormed the fortress. There were no women employed in the department as telephone girls, record bureau clerks, or secretaries. Male clerks, stenographers, or officers performed the limited amount of such duties. Thanks to the efforts of

Images courtesy of LAWPOA and the Los Angeles Police Historical Society

Left: In 1910, Alice Stebbins Wells became the world’s first sworn policewoman with full arrest powers. Above: Georgia Robinson was Los Angeles’ first policewoman of African-American descent.

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Courtesy of Raymond Wells

100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

middle-class women activists in the 1910s and 1920s, though despised and resented by most of their male colleagues, they forged ahead. They left their mark in history, fundamentally changing the nature and gender representation of law enforcement. Through numerous speeches, Wells was able to get her petition signed for an ordinance creating a position for a woman police officer, who would be under civil service with the same standing as her brother officers. Thus after a long and bitter fight, Wells stood triumphantly in front of Los Angeles City Clerk Wilde, with her right hand raised, taking her oath of office as a policewoman. She had broken the mold. Upon being sworn in, she was sent over to police headquarters to receive her equipment. She was given a Gamewell key, a book of rules and a first aid book, and a policeman’s badge along with a billy club. She would eventually receive a badge that read “Policewoman #1.” A tireless crusader, Wells toured the country speaking before police and civic groups about the need for women in modern-day law enforcement. She helped form the first Los Angeles Policewoman’s Association, assisted in organizing Policewomen Conferences in California and Hawaii, and was the first historian for the LAPD. She also persuaded UCLA in 1918 to offer the first criminology course specifically on the work of women police officers. In 1915, she got an ordinance passed making the three matrons policewomen. After 35 years of service, Wells retired in 1945 at the age of 72. She continued to lecture on the need for policewomen. On Aug. 17, 1957, at the age of 84, Alice Stebbins Wells passed away in Glendale, Calif., from a heart attack. She was laid to rest in Forest Lawn, Glendale, Calif. By October 1912, the Los Angeles Police Department included among its personnel three policewomen and three police matrons. Cities such as New York, Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco also had women joining the ranks as policewomen. San Francisco’s first three policewomen – all named Catherine – were known as “the Three Kates.” Canada, England, Ireland, and Australia were following close behind in hiring policewomen. In 1912, Minnie Barton, the second L.A. policewoman, offered vocational training in her home to girls on probation or parole. In 1917, she founded the Minnie Barton Home, which evolved into the Big Sister League, now a United Way Agency. Then, in 1916, Georgia Robinson, a governess from New Orleans who had traveled west on a wagon train, was invited to become L.A.’s first female policewoman of AfricanAmerican descent. An advocate of women and children’s rights, she worked closely with the underprivileged. She often brought women and children home for dinner. In 1928, while working the jail, a prisoner shoved Robinson’s head into the jail’s cell bars. This incident eventually caused her to go blind. Robinson continued her social work even after she was forced to retire from the LAPD. She died in

Cover from a 1911 promotional pamphlet. Alice Stebbins Wells worked tirelessly to carve out a place for women in law enforcement.

1961 at the age of 78. It wouldn’t be until 1950 that the first African-American female would be appointed to the rank of sergeant. In 1917, Mary del Valle became the first Hispanic female appointed to work juvenile. She was followed by Ella Aguilar in 1920. Both worked juvenile cases involving Hispanics. Marguerite Curley was appointed in 1920. In 1925, she and Wells founded the Los Angeles Policewomen’s Association. Curley became the first president. LAWPOA was founded primarily because the city wished to treat policewomen as civilian employees with no retirement plan. Curley would also preside over the Women Police Officers of California Association. A rather large lady in stature, Curley would walk a footbeat in San Pedro by herself, never failing to return to the stationhouse with someone in tow. On March 1, 1925, Lucille W. Shelton became the second female of African-American descent to become an L.A. policewoman. She died of cancer on July 8, 1940, at the age of 54. In May 1925, Mary O’Rourke Ross, a nurse from Baltimore, was appointed L.A.’s first policewoman of Irish descent. She would go on to be the first to be appointed to a metropolitan police department’s vice unit in the United States. She would also be the first assigned to work with a city, state, and federal

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LAWPOA 100 years of women in Law enforcement

narcotics unit. She often worked the gambling ships off the coast of California. After her retirement, Ross would be the first woman in California issued a private detective agency license. And Ross would be the second guest to appear on the TV show, This Is Your Life. Ross died in 1958. She left behind a son and two granddaughters. Appointed in 1929 to the position of City Juvenile Officer was Elizabeth Fiske. She was elevated to the position of City Mother in March 1930. She would be the second and last City Mother on the LAPD. The third African-American policewoman, Juanita Edwards, joined the department in 1929. She died in 1957 at 58 years of age. By 1930, there were fewer than 35 policewomen on the LAPD. Unlike their male counterparts, who were hired for

their brawn, they were educated and devoted to helping others less fortunate. They wore no uniform or gun, carried a badge, notebook, and billy club, and were restricted to working juvenile and jail with no hope of obtaining rank. On Dec. 20, 1932, Policewoman Anne Hahn Lee would become the first policewoman to lose her husband in the line of duty. Detective Paul Lee of the Fugitive Detail was gunned down during a stake out. It would be 62 years before another LAPD female officer would lose her officer husband in the line of duty; a gang member would gun down Officer Charles Heim of Metro Division, leaving behind his wife, Beth, and a young son. In 1934, Los Angeles policewomen appeared in uniform for the first time. The selected attire was a functional plain white nurseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s type dress worn with the badge, white hosiery, and sturdy white shoes for those working in the city jail. They

Image courtesy of LAWPOA and the Los Angeles Police Historical Society

For the next two decades after Alice Stebbins Wells became the first sworn female police officer, women were restricted to working juvenile and the jail with no opportunity for promotion.

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100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

Images courtesy of LAWPOA and the Los Angeles Police Historical Society

Image courtesy of LAWPOA and the Los Angeles Police Historical Society

Above: The earliest uniform for LAPD women officers was a plain white dress similar to a nurse’s uniform. Right: Women’s uniforms based on the WAVES uniform were revealed in 1948. Female officers wore the uniforms with gloves, heels, and guns carried in purses.

were required to buy their own dress. Those working Juvenile Division or Vice wore a business suit, heels, gloves, and a hat. The first official blue police uniform issued for women wouldn’t appear until 1948. In 1937, five female pilots were selected by Chief James Davis to form the first all-female squadron of fixed-wing pilots for the LAPD. They were Mary Charles, Betty Mae Furman, Karena Shields, Bobbie Trout, and Pretto Bell. In the late 1930s, Mabel “Dee” Stevens became a pioneer when she became the department’s first recognized female arms expert. She attained “expert” status with a variety of guns and qualified as a rapid-fire expert. This was during the era when policewomen didn’t even carry guns or qualify. In 1938, Imogene Dewey won several medals for her expertise in shooting with either hand. She traveled to Mexico City for the

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LAWPOA 100 years of women in Law enforcement

Women officers with the LAPD are no longer limited to working only juvenile or jail and have attained positions once open only to men. Police Officer Leslie Brophy (above) was the first female air support observer (co-pilot). Police Officer Linda Travis was the first LAPD mounted unit (right). Joanna Needham was the LAPDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first female motorcycle officer (top).

International Pistol Matches and walked away with several honors. Well into her 90s at the time of her death in December 2005, she was the oldest living retired L.A. policewoman. In May 1945, the first female sergeants were appointed. They were Leola Vess and Laura Churchill. They would replace the Chief Matron in charge of the women.

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Images courtesy of LAWPOA and the Los Angeles Police Historical Society

100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

In October 1946, the first all-female police academy class was held. Long considered the first Hispanic female to join the department, Josephine Serrano Collier would be in this first academy class. Also in the early 1940s through 1948, policewomen walked a footbeat in Central and San Pedro divisions. They patrolled the train and bus stations along with Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles. Working in pairs on the night watch, they were required to wear high heels, hats, and gloves with their dress suits. In 1947, Alice Houghton Singleton modeled the first official policewoman’s wool uniform at the police academy. In 1948, all policewomen were issued the new uniform. Women officers would now be required to carry a weapon and to qualify. The uniform was designed after the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) uniform. Policewoman Geraldine Lambert joined the department in 1947. Holding a bachelor’s degree in science, she would be assigned to the crime lab, develop the intoxication meter, and become an expert in the field of blood alcohol levels. She was Policewoman of the Year in 1957, and became a policewoman sergeant in 1962. Her new badge number was 502, a penal code for drunk driving. In 1950, Vivian Strange would be appointed the first African-American policewoman sergeant. Strange died tragically in a house fire in 1978. In 1959 Alice Morgan entered the academy. While assigned to the women’s jail, she injured her back and was pensioned off. Morgan, in need of money but unable to work, started a second career out of her home. She went on to become a successful and popular romance writer in the initial stages of a new phenomena to hit the literary circle. Morgan died in the late 1990s due to complications of diabetes, a disease that had forced her to give up her second career of writing due to blindness. During the ’40s and ’50s, a number of the women joining the department were returning World War II and

Korean War veterans. Among these women was Fanchon Blake, the first L.A. policewoman called to active duty during the Korean Conflict. In the 1960s, Policewoman Myrl McBride and son, Tim, became the first mother and son to join the department. Tim went on to become a commander. Tim’s stepmother, Petra McBride, was also an L.A. policewoman, making them the first stepmother/stepson team on the LAPD. In 1962, Policewoman Betsy Grey and her father, Officer Jack Halstead, became the second father/daughter team to serve together on the LAPD. They went on to co-author a very popular quarterly retirement newsletter for sworn officers. In 2008, just 19 months after Jack died in his 90s, Grey passed away from cancer. In May 1967, Policewoman Gail Ryan and her father, Detective/Sergeant Robert G. Ryan, became the third father/ daughter team to serve together on the LAPD. A fourth-generation-Irish police officer, she was the first female recipient of the department’s Humanitarian Award in 1991. Her career spanned 33 years with the LAPD. Her father’s was 31 years and her uncle’s was 20 years, for a total of 84 years of service by the family. Her grand-uncle was LASO (Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office) and both her great-grandfathers were special San Francisco policemen. In September 1967, Joyce Kano, a mother of two, would be the first female Asian, of Japanese descent, to join the department. Joyce, who had been born in an internment camp at Santa Anita Race Track during World War II, would serve 20 years and retire a detective out of Hollenbeck Division. She was also the first female Asian detective on the LAPD. Joyce now runs her own embroidery company in Anaheim, Calif. Carolyn Wallace, who joined the department in 1968, became the department’s first female recipient of the Medal of Valor in 1972. She jumped into Big Bear Lake to rescue a drowning child in 36-degree water. A mother of two, today Carolyn is an ER nurse in a Denver hospital.

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LAWPOA 100 years of women in Law enforcement

lawpoa membership By David A. Brown

Gonzales said the synergy of varied member backgrounds and perspectives has been instrumental in maintaining a strong and vibrant body. “Although we began as an organization by and for women officers in policing, over the years we have expanded our membership to include men and women, sworn and non-sworn, so that our membership can be a reflection of all law enforcement professionals and those who belong to organizations that are affiliated with law enforcement. We refuse to be exclusive to any one gender or civil-service classification.” Jan Kuris-Doherty, Senior Management Analyst II in the Protected Activity Unit of the LAPD’s Risk Management Division, said her LAWPOA membership identifies her as an integral part of the associates who work alongside police officers to create a fair and positive work environment for all department employees. “Becoming a part of LAWPOA has given me the opportunity to meet with some of the most impressive and dedicated volunteer women and men working together for the betterment of all women working in law enforcement agencies,” she said. “Being part of the largest employee association in the LAPD also creates a very rewarding sense of belonging, where my experience is valued.”

LEARN AND GROW LAWPOA’s stated mission is to increase the number of women in leadership and enhance the promotability of women in the law enforcement profession. To this end, the organization places an emphasis on education by hosting internal learning events and making members aware of outside opportunities. “LAWPOA is self-funding and as such we make sure that we not only send members to training but we also design our own workshops and seminars each month, at little to no cost to members,” Gonzales said. Additionally, after six months of membership dues, members are eligible to receive monetary assistance to attend professional workshops, seminars, and conferences outside the organization. Members may also apply for one of three $1,000 college scholarships awarded each year, and some even find LAWPOA sponsoring their participation in personal enrichment opportunities. “LAWPOA sponsored me, as their guest, to attend the retirement [event] of an assistant chief,” Ochoa said. “I am

Images courtesy of LAWPOA

xamine the membership of the Los Angeles Women Police Officers and Associates and one thing stands immediately clear: The walk matches the talk. Indeed, upholding an 85-year tradition of advancing the role of women in law enforcement, LAWPOA gives its members much more than a tax deduction for dues. Rather, a constant effort to nurture, encourage, and uplift makes joining a wise decision. “LAWPOA membership lets others in the law enforcement community recognize a law enforcement professional who is working on enhancing their personal career goals by seeking networking, training, and educational assistance,” said LAWPOA President Detective Deborah Gonzales. Elizabeth Ochoa is a Senior Clerk Typist who has been with the Los Angeles Police Department for 12 years. She began her career as a recruit officer in the police academy and moved to a civilian position following an injury. Ochoa said that joining LAWPOA has expanded her personal and professional perception of her work environment. “LAWPOA has made me more aware of the LAPD’s female employees,” she said. “It has provided me with more contacts for advice on any given subject regarding law enforcement and it has given me a more positive outlook on females [in] this department.” Building on that concept, LAWPOA promotes diversity among its ranks. Membership is open to sworn and civilian employees of any law enforcement agency, as well as agencies affiliated with law enforcement. LAWPOA welcomes male members like Sergeant John Vasquez, an experienced Field Training Officer whose background adds a strong developmental element to the organization. As an early pioneer in the development of the department’s Crime Prevention Assistance (CPA) Program, Vasquez was instrumental in preparing female police officer candidates for the Los Angeles Police Academy. Gonzales was one of his successful CPAs. “Though I have only been an active LAWPOA member for three years, I have been a strong and active advocate of this organization’s ideals for most of my career,” Vasquez said. “I [appreciate] that LAWPOA has a long history of dedicated service to its members by providing them training and vision necessary for them to be successful in all aspects of their professional and personal lives. To this day, I am still actively involved in the personal and professional growth of our women.”

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100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

Left: The LAWPOA display at the 2008 LAPD women’s leadership conference. Right: The Honorable Maral Injejikian, Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles (at microphone), swears in the 2009 LAWPOA board members. The board members, pictured from left to right, are Enid Gomez (treasurer), Elaine Morales (3rd vice president), Ann Barrera (2nd vice president), Kimberly Jones-Harris (1st vice president), and Deborah Gonzales (president). proud to be part of an organization that not only trains its members, but also pays for us to go to outside sponsored training and other events.” Echoing that thought, Kuris-Doherty said she’s thankful for LAWPOA’s assistance with registration fees for training seminars that have prepared her for certification as a law enforcement auditor. Moreover, interaction within the LAWPOA membership has complemented her formal learning. “As a LAWPOA member, I am continually given opportunities to learn from other people’s insights,” Kuris-Doherty said. “I have been given opportunities to contribute by attending and helping to organize events where each of us is exposed to a diverse group of leaders and co-workers who challenge our thinking and who inspire us to do even more to advance the field in which we work.”

CAREER IMPACT – COMMUNITY BENEFIT Networking within LAWPOA, as well as the International Association of Women Police – of which LAWPOA is an associate member – presents immeasurable growth opportunities, Kuris-Doherty said. “The best example of LAWPOA positively impacting my career is by giving me a multitude of opportunities to get to know many of the department’s leaders and managers, and for them to get to know me as a person,” she said. “I have experienced the benefits of developing these relationships when I later come into contact [with these individuals] as a consultant or trainer. “I have found that management’s knowing me and trusting my motives, because of our exchanges at LAWPOA events, has greatly facilitated our discussion of sometimes difficult personnel matters. Staff and command officers are openly

receptive when my partner and I need to identify deficiencies in their commands and readily discuss what can be done to resolve those problems.” Ochoa said her membership avails her of a deep well of knowledge and experience, while positioning her as an individual who actively seeks such resources. “LAWPOA gives me the perfect opportunity of meeting other leaders, both men and women, who can mentor or guide me in the right direction when I am ready to start promoting,” she said. “Being a member of LAWPOA also lets others know who I associate with, and it lets those who I hope to work with someday [leaders] know that I am a law enforcement professional who is a part of a professional networking organization like LAWPOA.” And, of course, when LAWPOA members improve themselves, they improve their ability to perform their ultimate objective of public service and protection. Along with this, LAWPOA members participate in a wide range of charitable and benevolent activities such as fundraisers and food/clothing donation drives for the Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women and Children. Members have also participated in toy drives for impoverished children, as well as LAWPOA’s adopted community event – the Lupus Race for Life, hosted by Lupus International in Irvine, Calif. Such are not the ways of joiner-uppers seeking to beef up their Facebook profiles. LAWPOA members excel in their daily duties and then gladly join hands for a greater good because that’s what the organization promotes. Vasquez summarized: “I am most proud of the dedicated service of the LAWPOA board members toward the professional and personal development of its sworn and civilian personnel, which, in turn, bestows incalculable benefits for the community they serve.”

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LAWPOA 100 years of women in Law enforcement

From the Patrol Car to the Chief’s Chair These L.A. women broke new ground

t would be difficult to find a more practical – and supportive – pair of gifts for a new police academy graduate than the ones Sandy Jo MacArthur’s parents gave her. MacArthur began her career in law enforcement after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Arizona State University. She then entered the police academy for the city of Los Angeles. That was back in 1980, a time when most major police departments in the nation had relatively few female officers and even fewer women in senior leadership positions. As MacArthur recalled, her parents had always remained supportive of whatever life path she decided to follow. So, when MacArthur left the academy to become a full-time police officer, her dad bought her a bullet-proof vest. Her new vest was a welcome upgrade from the ones the department issued at that time. Clearly, her parents weren’t taking any chances with their daughter’s safety. They also bought her a snub-nosed revolver with a 2-inch barrel as a back-up weapon. “I was a tomboy and I did all those crazy things,” MacArthur said of her formative years. “Actually what I wanted to be when I was a little girl was a professional football player or a cowboy. They didn’t have many jobs for cowboys. “I come from all girls. So, we didn’t have any of the gender stuff in the family because there were no guys in the family other than my dad. So, I was raised really not with the gender boundaries I think that were prevalent in the ’70s. And so I really was raised with an attitude ‘you could do whatever you want.’” Today, MacArthur ranks as one of three assistant police chiefs. As such, she is the department’s highest-ranking

female officer. She’s part of a trend of women police moving into senior management positions, particularly in the trendsetting Southern California area in the last decade. MacArthur has spent her entire 30 years with the Los Angeles Police Department. Originally, she thought becoming a watch commander would serve as the pinnacle of her career. “I joined the department and found out it was in the middle of a lawsuit,” MacArthur said, because “women could not promote past the rank of detective. They couldn’t even be a lieutenant. “So when I made watch commander in 2001, I was really happy about it. I was really fine with it if that was as far as it went. I love operations. Out of my first 21 years with the department, I spent 15 in operations.” After getting a master’s degree in conflict resolution from the California State University, the chief found that doors started opening for her on the administrative side. In 2004, MacArthur became the Adjutant to the Chief of Police. In 2005, she became the commanding officer of the Civil Rights Integrity Division. There she assisted Chief William J. Bratton in implementing a consent decree reached with the federal Justice Department following allegations of police misconduct in the Rampart Division. The decree was lifted in July 2009. In 2006, MacArthur became the commanding officer of Training Group. In 2008, she was promoted to deputy chief as the commanding officer of Incident Management and Training Bureau. In 2010, MacArthur was promoted to assistant chief, the director of Office of Administrative Services, with responsibility for technology, vehicles,

Photo courtesy of Sandy Jo MacArthur

By Michael A. Robinson

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100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

Sandy Jo MacArthur

equipment, recruitment, training, dispatch, personnel, and grants. “First of all, I love police work,” MacArthur said. “LAPD has been an awesome department. I saw the good, the bad, and the ugly. It has been a great place to work. “I’m 53 right now. I think by the time I’m 58, I’m going to be totally okay with just being plain old Sandy Jo again. I don’t think I’m going to want to go on anywhere else. So, if I stay for five more years, I believe I

will have fulfilled my goals in law enforcement.” Her husband, Nick, previously retired from the LAPD as a lieutenant, spending his career in operations. MacArthur said her husband has deep expertise in firearms and helped the department modernize its weapons, particularly in the aftermath of a high-profile police shootout with heavily armed bank robbers in North Hollywood in 1997. She said her husband supported her climb up the ladder and remained content focusing on hands-on police work. “There was never a competition,” she said, “which was nice.” Reflecting on her 30 years in law enforcement, the chief said she witnessed an “incredible” change in acceptance of women police officers. She has a couple of tips for young women interested in law enforcement careers. “First of all, make sure it is something you want to do,” MacArthur said. “It’s great on the soul but not necessarily on the body because you do shift work and you do the stress. “Go in and enjoy it and remember you are there to serve. Make sure you never forget why you came on the job. That’ll help steer them and keep them in the right direction. And they will be successful.” Meanwhile, Lili Hadsell remains happily out of step with many of her fellow chiefs of police in California. After all, the Golden State teeters on the verge of insolvency, and many municipalities also have been hard hit by the economic downturn. In the Bay Area community of Oakland, city leaders in the summer of 2010 were discussing plans to lay off nearly 150 police officers in a bid to balance the city’s budget. About 25 miles northeast from there, police officials in cash-strapped Vallejo were planning

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LAWPOA 100 years of women in Law enforcement

to cut the department’s K-9 program and SWAT team. Last year, the city of Stockton furloughed nearly 30 officers among other city cuts. As the chief of police in Baldwin Park, a largely Hispanic community about 10 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, Hadsell scored successes on two fronts. She avoided firing police officers and registered a decrease in crime. “Actually, we have been pretty lucky. Our city is very conservative. It has been for years. Approximately four years ago, we did some restructuring – not just within the police department, but within the city itself. So we were able to save a lot of dollars there. “As people retired, they weren’t replaced. We hired more part-timers to do some of the work. And so our budget has remained basically the same. We haven’t had to cut. I haven’t had to fire anybody. I’ve got a couple of frozen positions,

which are going to stay frozen until the economy improves. But at this point, we are steady. It is always walking a tightrope. We could do much more if we had more money, but we’re doing okay. “We had our first homicide last weekend – the first one we’ve had in 10 months, so we were very, very proud of the fact that crime has been going down. In the past, there was a lot of crime. We do have several very prominent gangs here. We do have problems with stolen vehicles and burglaries and that sort of thing. I’m very proud to say violent crime has been steadily decreasing for the past three years.” Born in Peru, Hadsell moved with her family to Southern California when she was 4 years old. Her parents had a negative attitude toward the police as an occupation because in Peru officers were little more than security guards. And many took bribes. Moreover, her parents had another occupation in mind for their American-raised daughter. They wanted her to become an attorney. Hadsell has two brothers: one is a medical doctor, the other is an architect-designer. She comes from a strict Catholic family. Hadsell lived at home all through community college and into her early years as a police officer. Shortly after joining the force in Pasadena, Hadsell was out on patrol after midnight. Around 1 a.m., her father phoned the desk sergeant to find out where she was. “And the desk sergeant says, ‘Well, she’s out in the field. She’s working,’” Hadsell recalled. “And my dad says, ‘She can’t be. Her curfew is midnight. She needs to come home.”’ Hadsell has told that story for nearly 20 years and still gets a laugh out of it. Later, she would sometimes see her father around 3 a.m. following her around on patrol in the family’s green station wagon. Clearly, Hadsell was rather close to her parents, who at first did not approve of her becoming a police officer. Hadsell began her career in Pasadena in 1976. In 1983, she became the second woman police officer for the San Marino Police Department. In 1999, she joined the Baldwin Park Police Department as a lieutenant assigned to patrol. Seven years later she buttressed her career by attending the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., and promptly became a bureau commander. She became the city’s first female chief of police in May 2008. After 25 years in law enforcement, Hadsell said she is contemplating her next move. She plans to stay in Baldwin Park for at least two more years until her daughter turns 18 and hopes to stay even longer.

Photo courtesy of Baldwin Park Police

Lili Hadsell

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After that she is thinking of becoming a consultant or a roving interim police chief, traveling to communities who want to take six months or longer to find a permanent chief. Either way, she hopes to be able to mentor women considering law enforcement careers. “I got here on the shoulders of other women,” she explained. “It’s difficult to get women involved in police work. I think a lot of it has to do with the hours. When you’re young and you’ve got a family, you don’t want to work weekends. You don’t want to work graveyard. You don’t want to work holidays. Those are big sacrifices that you have to make. “I’m trying to figure out how to recruit more women because I think women see things a little differently than men do. I work with men, and they want things the way they want things. I’m willing to compromise, talk about it, and see how we can all do what we need to do and not get into a big knockdown, drag-out about it. I think that’s what women bring to this job.” When Hadsell began as a rookie cop, she became Pasadena’s second female officer. She got to be good friends with Marilyn Diaz, Pasadena’s first female officer. Today, both are chiefs of police. Diaz was two years ahead of Hadsell in Pasadena. Fittingly enough, Diaz became a police chief just about two years ahead of Hadsell. In March 2006, after 32 years in Pasadena, Diaz got the top job in Sierra Madre, becoming the first female head of a municipal police department in Los Angeles County. Before Diaz entered law enforcement, policewomen generally were relegated to juvenile and sex crimes or had jail duties. In Pasadena, she was the first to be assigned to patrol. By the time Diaz left for Sierra Madre, she had become the commander of Pasadena’s patrol unit, overseeing 160 officers. A Southern California native, Diaz originally intended on a career in foreign service and received a bachelor’s degree in political science from California State University in Los Angeles. At

a friend’s suggestion, she took an elective class in police science. She dropped her goal of working at the U.S. embassy in Spain and devoted her career to police work. “Before that I had never considered being a police officer,” Diaz said. “I didn’t know any police officers. There were none in my family. I don’t think I had ever talked to a police officer in my life, and that class opened up a whole new field for me. “I was intrigued about the law, about the tremendous responsibilities that police officers have to preserve peace and assume roles that are probably more varied than any other job in our society. “It would be correct to say that what I love about this profession is the variety of ways in which one can serve and be challenged by all the opportunities – everything from community-based policing, narcotics investigations, homicides, training, administration, traffic.” Landing the job in Sierra Madre was the product of great timing, Diaz said. She had lived in the town for many years and had already decided to retire from Pasadena when the chief’s job became available. Since she lived close enough to walk to the police department, accepting the chief’s job was pretty much a no-brainer. In her role as chief, Diaz places great emphasis on training and education for her officers. Then again, she is a former part-time educator. Diaz has a master’s degree in education from the University of Southern California and taught in her off hours for six years at Pasadena Community College. “Along with improved training comes providing officers with tools they didn’t have before,” Diaz said. “We’ve upgraded all their equipment. We have provided training on a regular basis from the district attorney’s office, from judges, from experienced trial attorneys. “We’ve covered everything from legal issues like search and seizure to Miranda law to sexual assault investigations. We have a pool of experts who come at no cost and talk to our people. We’ve also updated all of our policies.

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And we have renovated our entire work space to provide officers and their supervisors better work space.” At age 59, Diaz could retire basically any time she desires. But she said she wants to remain chief in Sierra Madre for at least the next few years. Originally, she thought she would retire to teach. Now, she said she wants to pursue her interest in community volunteer activities and to travel. She said she has enjoyed every stint in her climb up the criminal justice ladder. In the early days, she hadn’t considered sitting in the chief’s chair. Diaz and a former colleague used to joke about what a drag it would be to serve as chief of police.

“Who would possibly want a job like that?” the two would observe. “It’s fraught with politics. All you are is a politician with a badge. Not me, no thanks.” But after becoming a commander about a decade ago, she realized that, beyond the higher pay and greater recognition, becoming a chief would actually have deep meaning in her life. “At every higher level [of rank] you have more control,” she concluded. “You can exert more influence. Every rank below chief, although your sphere of influence is great, it’s nothing like being at the top. When you become the chief, it’s your job to set policies and values for the entire organization.”

Photo courtesy of Marilyn Diaz

Marilyn Diaz

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Book Spotlight

Q&A With Adam Eisenberg, Author of A Different Shade of Blue

Courtesy of Adam Eisenberg

By Craig Collins

n Adam Eisenberg’s varied career in criminal justice, he has been a criminal prosecutor, a civil trial attorney, and an advocate on mental health and domestic violence issues. He’s now commissioner of Seattle Municipal Court in Seattle, Wash., where he presides over criminal and traffic court matters. Eisenberg’s earliest work experience was as a Los Angeles-based film journalist. After he finished law school, he continued to write for a Seattle paper about legal issues such as mental illness and homelessness. A self-described “recovering law student trying to keep my creativity alive,” he has spent much of his career juggling different ideas for books. His first to be published, A Different Shade of Blue (www.adifferentshadeofblue.com), chronicles the history of Seattle’s female cops through the voices of 50 female officers. As one of the first cities to hire policewomen (in 1912), Seattle was a proving ground for women who wanted a role in the male-dominated police profession. A Different Shade of Blue is told by three generations of SPD women who relate with candor their experience as both beginners and veterans, and their views on affirmative action, workplace harassment, and their own relationships with other female officers offer surprising insights into the history and culture of female law enforcement officers. 100 Years of Women in Law Enforcement: When did you first get the idea to write about women police officers? Eisenberg: When I was a prosecutor I was in court one day, chatting with a female officer who had been on the department since the late ’70s or early ’80s, and I asked her: “So what was it like when you first came on? Were there a lot of women?” And she said, “No, there were very few of us.” I said, “Well, how did the men treat you?” She said, “Well, they kind of broke into three groups. Most guys were fine. They let us prove

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that we could actually do the job. Then there were the oldtimers who wanted nothing to do with us. They didn’t believe women should be in law enforcement, and they wouldn’t even acknowledge our presence if we walked down the hall. And then there was a third group of guys who thought, ‘Well, the women are here, we might as well date them.’” So I thought this might make a really interesting article for one of our weekly newspapers, and I started doing the research. I started interviewing women who had served back as far as 1945, up to the present day. And I realized that actually the history of policewomen was quite complex and had changed over many years. In terms of introducing women to police work, was Seattle generally ahead of other cities, or was it typical of the time period? Seattle was a hotbed of women’s suffrage movements during the early part of the 20th century. There were a lot of meetings that occurred here. Washington State and Seattle had the right to vote for women 10 years before the national amendment to the Constitution. Los Angeles was the first city to appoint a policewoman in 1910 when [the] LAPD hired Alice Stebbins Wells, and by 1912, L.A. had three policewomen on the street. At the same time, Seattle had five women on the street. So we were very much in sync with the very beginning of all of this. You had worked in criminal justice for years by the time you began interviewing female officers for this book. Did you discover anything that surprised you? Definitely. I didn’t really know much about the whole early era, the “policewoman” era, when women were segregated on departments nationwide. They were often paid less than the male officers, and they weren’t allowed to compete with the men to earn promotions. And I was surprised to learn that for many years policewomen weren’t allowed to carry guns. Los Angeles didn’t have women cops with guns until 1939. One of the things I found really fascinating was talking to the women from the 1940s and 1950s and learning that they had not expected their jobs, when they were hired, to be like regular patrol officers. And if you had actually suggested it at that time, they would have thought you were crazy, because in society no one looked at women in that role. For the first several decades, policewomen worked in plain clothes. Then in the 1940s and ’50s police departments across the nation insisted on women wearing a “uniform” that featured dress jackets, skirts, and high heels – they looked more like flight attendants than law enforcement officers! And they were issued guns they were expected to carry in speciallydesigned purses. Policewomen knew their uniforms were absurd. I mean, they thought they were impractical because they had to crawl into attics to look for kids or investigate all sorts of different situations – and they’re in high heels! And having their guns in purses was ridiculous, because their purse could easily be

taken away from them. It just was not practical, but at the same time, it was completely the norm all over the country. But people would have thought it was very strange if it had been any other way. They were social workers with guns and badges, which is kind of a funny phrase, and it sort of minimizes how much real police work these women were doing even from the very beginning: investigating cases, trying to find runaways, and putting themselves in really a great deal of jeopardy. The earliest generation of policewomen actually traveled cities in streetcars and buses. Streetcars and buses? Today, it’s commonplace to see women officers in patrol cars, but 60 or 70 years ago it was unthinkable. By the 1950s, the women started driving around in police vehicles, but they still had to wear skirts, and they were not allowed to do regular patrol. All of this started to change in the 1960s when policewomen in New York City sued for the right to compete with male officers on a sergeant’s exam. The women won and by the end of the decade, police departments desegregated. Then, in the 1970s, they started hiring modern female officers who were expected to do their jobs just like men. By the way, female officers also found their uniforms challenging because when they were allowed to wear pants just like male officers, well, women’s pants in the 1970s had zippers on the sides, and they didn’t have back pockets because women’s suits or pants didn’t tailor that way. The men who were running the department didn’t even think about the fact that this was impractical. Another thing I found really fascinating was what some female officers referred to as “The Queen Bee Syndrome.” As a man I found it really interesting that particularly during the time female officers were first being hired in the ’70s and ’80s, women didn’t necessarily support other women in moving up or even coming on the force. For instance, if an officer was the first woman on a particular squad, and another woman showed up, fairly often the first woman wasn’t too keen on having another woman there, for several reasons. One is the sort of territorial nature of the squad room, which I wasn’t aware of. Part of it also was the fact that the woman who was established was afraid the new one would screw up and that would affect everyone – which was a very reasonable fear, given how the men tended to lump all women together. And if one woman screwed up, it went around the whole department: “Oh, God. See, we knew they couldn’t do it.” That’s one of the big surprises of the book, isn’t it – that women officers were not always supportive of each other? It was really interesting to hear how some of the women treated their female colleagues. Los Angeles has LAWPOA, but I haven’t really heard of any other cities that have a woman’s police organization quite as complex and organized as

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LAWPOA. So I think even today, women don’t necessarily tend to band together. You might have the African-American law officers group or the Asian-Americans law officers group. But having women’s groups is, in this field, not that common.

Photo by Paul Verba, courtesy of Adam Eisenberg

Why do you think that is? Well, one factor may be the Queen Bee Syndrome. I think another part of it is a very strong desire on the part of women to fit into such a male-dominated profession. If you create an organization that singles you out, you’re not being one of the boys. And that’s unfortunate, because there is a lot of support they could provide to each other in terms of the particular challenges that they face. I don’t know. Maybe also nowadays, they don’t feel it’s necessary, because women are so much more prevalent in the workplace than they were when they were breaking so many barriers back in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.

Adam Eisenberg

You also mentioned toward the end of the book that proportionally, there are now actually fewer female officers in Seattle than there had been. Is that a trend specific to Seattle? I think the statistics nationwide are that women are not making huge leaps and bounds. The national average is 12 to 13 percent of the total force. I do think there was a lot of momentum that was building in the ’90s that, based on the numbers, kind of stalled, although we have had an increased number of women higher up in command. We certainly have more than a handful of female police chiefs now. But the general numbers have not increased significantly. In fact, they seem to be decreasing, percentage-wise. I think there are a lot of reasons why. Part of it is the economic opportunities that women have been presented with since the ’80s. We have so many more women lawyers and we have so many more women doctors. In the ’40s and ’50s and ’60s and ’70s, what drew women to police work was the fact that it paid better than most other jobs you could get as a woman. I don’t think that’s true anymore, and the lifestyle certainly isn’t conducive to having children and a family. I think that’s a factor, although some departments have tried to create more child-friendly work environments. Just watching the presidential race of 2008 and seeing some of the coverage of Hillary Clinton – whether you like Hillary Clinton or not – it’s quite clear our culture still has issues about women in power and control positions. I think female officers on the street experience that not just from male officers, but they get a lot of lip from civilians and defendants and suspects. Our culture creates some barriers that women are still struggling with. And still, even though the raw number of women who have moved up the ranks is very encouraging, there is still not a huge percentage of women at the top. So I don’t think women police officers have achieved equality yet by any means – but they’ve made an incredible amount of progress.

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FIRST WOMAN TO LAND LAPD SWAT ASSIGNMENT By Vera Marie Badertscher

fficer Jennifer Grasso, first woman on the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team, recently talked about her experiences: My first summer, June 2008, I had only been with the platoon about a month, and we got called by SIS [Special Investigation Section] – they really go after some serious bad guys ... Well, they had received information ... that a man had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom by some drug dealers. Over the course of a week, the family was trying to take care of the ransom ... and so the drug dealers began to threaten that they were going to cut this guy’s fingers off, his ears off, and they were torturing him. They would put this man on

the phone and he would beg them, “Please, they’re going to kill me, you have to do something.” ... through technology ... [police] were able to pinpoint where the suspects were holding this victim. We responded. My team, which consisted of five of us, [was] going to a detached garage in the backyard where we were certain that the victim was being held. The rest of the team handled the main part of the house. Some guys were involved in securing the neighborhood, kind of setting up a perimeter ... By the time we made our way down the driveway where this victim was being held, we saw three armed men run out of this garage and jump the fence. Well, we had guys in the yard so they took them in custody.

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We didn’t know if that was all of them that had been in the garage, if there were more, or if they were going to try to kill the victim, so we went for the garage door. I had only been there a month, and that day, as we were staging, getting ready to hit the house, I looked at one of my SWAT classmates and I said, “You know, I can’t believe this. A month ago, we’re getting yelled at, telling us how screwed up we are [in training], and here we are a month later getting ready to save some guy’s life.” It’s pretty crazy how that works. I think the training that we went through in SWAT school – you just feel real confident in your abilities and you feel really comfortable that you’ll react properly and you’ll be able to do what needs to be done. Jennifer Grasso’s father worked for the federal Drug Enforcement Agency when she was growing up in San Diego. She took classes in criminology. She applied and was hired at the LAPD in 1985. “Like every other new hire,” she said, “I started in the patrol division.” She worked several different jobs, all of them eye-opening. “As a college student you are somewhat sheltered and you’re very optimistic and trusting,” she said. “I guess you think everybody else is a lot like you. I’d never really been exposed to the things I was once I got on the job – the drugs and the homelessness and the gangs. It’s a real eye-opener ... You kind of see the bad side of people.” Grasso worked her way up to an appointment to Metropolitan Division, and while she was working in a gang detail, she began to observe SWAT activities, particularly when SWAT members did shooting training or asked for extra bodies to help serve warrants. As she got a better understanding of what they did, she thought maybe she could do it. “I wouldn’t say they are not anything special,” she said, but still the tasks were not beyond her reach. She also did not feel hindered by her petite appearance. At 5 feet, 3 inches and 125 pounds, Grasso does not meet most people’s image of the burly guys in the toughest policing job and the last bastion of male-only policing in the LAPD. She takes a lot of kidding about her size, but, Grasso said, “I think it’s more about what’s inside than what’s outside.” Grasso started preparing herself with both physical training and extra shooting on her own time. Although some people were encouraging her, she said, “I think there was still a lot of resistance from some of the guys who were there. Maybe they weren’t quite ready for a female, or they didn’t think there was a female out there who could do the job. In the meantime I tried to get myself ready the best I could.” Although Los Angeles created the first municipal SWAT team, other cities had accepted women on their SWAT before L.A. Two women had previously applied in the city and failed, one eventually successfully suing for gender discrimination. Grasso eventually entered the SWAT selection process in 2006, along with about 40 men and one other woman. “It was pretty difficult and very stressful,” she said, adding

that it needs to be that way to fully prepare the officer. She made it through elimination rounds and thought, “They’re dropping out like flies and I’m still standing.” But then she landed wrong on an obstacle course jump and it was suddenly over. “So I went through a little phase of ‘poor me’ and then I got over it. I thought, ‘I can either feel sorry for myself or I can get over it and prepare for the next time,’ so that’s what I did.” Sergeant Steve Gomez, a 32-year veteran of the LAPD, 22 of those years in SWAT, said he was one of the old school who thought, “This is not a place for a woman ... but Jennifer came along and ... there was no doubt in my mind that if she had not hurt her knee the first time, she would have been selected because she was motivated, she was dedicated, she was in shape, and she knew what she was doing.” He felt definitely she would be chosen the second time around. And in late 2007, when she was 36, she qualified again for the three-month SWAT school, where applicants spend time learning to handle the various weapons and tactics of SWAT. In June 2008 she got her new assignment. “Here I am two years later,” Grasso said. “It’s kind of a long road, but it’s well worth it. I’m glad I persevered. ... It’s a great place to work and hopefully even the guys that might have had some reservations can see that I can do the job. Gomez said that when Grasso qualified, “The majority of the guys said, ‘Okay, we’ve got a female here, she went through the process, she’s passed everything ... We’ll keep an eye on her and see if she can do the job that everybody else can do.’ And myself and other people have been very, very impressed with the job she has done and the way she handles herself well.” Although the department opened up applications for SWAT to the entire department instead of just to Metropolitan Division as in the past, it has not resulted in more women applying. Grasso and Gomez both stressed the work schedule. Half of the 60 SWAT officers, and their sergeants and lieutenants, are on standby for overnight calls in alternating twoweek periods of each month. That can play havoc with one’s personal life, but can be downright impossible for a woman who is the prime caretaker of a family. Grasso said, “I don’t think [the problem is] that there are no women out there who are qualified ... You have to not only be qualified, but have to be interested and have the freedom at home to do this.” Another problem for anyone, man or woman, who wants a coveted SWAT appointment is that people stay a long time, so openings are rare. As for Grasso, she doubts that she will retire in the position, but said, “I’m going to work here for as long as I enjoy what I’m doing and as long as I feel that I’m doing a good job, because I owe that not just to the people we’re serving but the guys that I work with every day. Right now I feel like I’m more than physically capable of doing the job and mentally I love it. I look forward to going to work every day. I pinch myself on occasion because I just can’t believe I’m a member of LAPD SWAT; it’s just mind boggling.”

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AP Photo/Valley Press, Bernard Kane

Los Angeles Police Department SWAT officers stay behind a wall as they monitor the scene at a home where a man barricaded himself after officers attempted to serve a murder warrant in Palmdale, Calif. A SWAT assignment can be intense and dangerous, and the rigorous qualification and training ensure that officers, male or female, are prepared for the job.

Despite their tough guy reputation and T.V. depictions, Grasso said, “The reverence for human life in this unit is extremely high. We’re going up against some people who have done some horrible things, so I think the natural human tendency would be, ‘we’re going to hit this guy,’ but ... the restraint our guys show when we take some of these guys into custody is just pretty mind boggling [when you think of] what he did. But our job is to take him into custody and then turn him over ... for the rest of the criminal justice system. The guys I work with are the best of the best. They’ve proved themselves for a lot of years.” Grasso admitted that there are boring moments on the job as well as exciting ones. In one instance, her team was receiving fire from an AK-47 from inside a house, and gang members were spilling out trying to escape, so it was very exciting for about 15 minutes. Then the team wound up standing watch for another 12 hours before the target darted out and was captured. And how about that first assignment – rescuing the kidnap victim? The victim stumbled out the door as her team set up outside. “He was beaten beyond recognition. He wound up losing an eye as a result of the torture that he sustained. They had electrocuted him with a car battery. He was a bloody mess. [But] we managed to get there and save him. “Since then I’ve been involved in a couple of other hostage [cases],” she said. “Because there is so much at stake, as far as adrenaline and excitement, those are the ones that really get your blood flowing.” Gomez stressed that SWAT attracts the type-A personality that is drawn to adrenaline-stimulating action, but it is not for everyone. Grasso has proven that a woman can be a good SWAT officer, which will make life just a little easier for the next woman to go through the process. She encourages any female officer who has questions about SWAT to contact her with questions. Grasso said, “My whole career, I didn’t want to be looked at as the female officer, I just wanted to look like everybody else.” Nevertheless, as the first female officer in LAPD SWAT, she will go down in the history books of the LAPD as a female officer in an extraordinary role.

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A Day in the Life of a Police Psychologist By Vera Marie Badertscher

Dr. Kevin Jablonski

Image courtesy of LAWPOA

“I

n Western culture – here in Los Angeles – in some communities it is considered chic to have one’s own psychologist,” said Chief Police Psychologist Dr. Kevin Jablonski. And how about in the Los Angeles Police Department? Is it chic to see a shrink? Police officers must maintain a tough guy image and not show vulnerability. That could create a barrier between LAPD employees and the Behavioral Science Services (BSS) clinical psychologists. Jablonski said that 15 years ago he thought, “Why do I want to go to work for LAPD where there’s going to be a bunch of men who are resistant to therapy, who see it as only for those who have ‘weaknesses?’” But reality was different. “I got here and was pleasantly surprised,” he continued. “My stereotype was certainly unfounded. We find men and women readily use our services.” People may also attach unwarranted stereotypes to the psychologists. Police psychologists do more than talk to individual clients about problems all day. They also do training, research, crisis negotiation, and criminal analysis. Police psychologists work closely with their assigned divisions. The psychologists visit on the turf of the division, attend roll call, and provide training and consultation of various sorts. As an example, Jablonski cited preparing for changes of season. “Psychologists often will go to those roll calls and speak for a few minutes on a particular topic. So as summer approaches and kids are graduating from school or getting out for the summer, they might give a presentation on parenting or childcare issues – things of that sort – a timely topic. ... [or] skin cancer prevention.” Jablonski likes to say, “The best detectives are detectives, not psychologists.” When he was hired, “I had no background in criminology, no background in corrections or anything similar,” Jablonski said. But people in his office

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can sometimes bring a different and helpful perspective to an investigation. “Some of the psychs are more familiar with how to provide consultation on criminal investigation subjects. [In a] serial homicide case ... maybe there is a document that is potential evidence and there is something about the way it is written ... and they want to get the professional’s opinion about what might be inferred about the author of that document.” Police psychologists work with SWAT on the Crisis Negotiating Teams (CNT). Three, or more likely four, people comprise each team, according to Jablonski. Those people include the primary negotiator, secondary negotiator, psychologist, and scribe. CNT also works with suicide risks, trying to talk them out of harm’s way. BSS and SWAT share the training responsibilities for this difficult job. The Behavioral Science Services has grown since Jablonski came to the LAPD 14 1/2 years ago as a post-doctoral fellow. His initial time as a post-doctoral fellow, working toward his license, coincided with an expansion of BSS. “At the end of my fellowship,” he said, “... the department had decided to increase the size of their psych unit. It was about seven or eight.” They were going to add two additional psychologists, so he applied and was hired from his fellowship position to a full-time job. Now there are 14 professionals in BSS, including six women. Since the total number of employees of the LAPD runs close to 13,000, that provides a significant ratio of psychologists to potential clients, certainly much higher than the ratio of psychologists who serve the general population of 4 million in Greater Los Angeles. “We have the largest of all the internal and external psych services divisions in any municipal, county, or state government that I know of,” said Jablonski. Most smaller governments contract out necessary work, and even compared to contracted work, the LAPD provides more service to their employees. “We far outpace any agency I can think of as far as the amount of service we provide and the number of people who provide those services.” In addition to Jablonski, BSS currently has two Police Psychologists II (a supervisory role) and 11 Police Psychologists I. The latter are the front-line clinical psychologists, although the Police Psychologists II spend about 10 percent of their time in clinical services to clients and Jablonski still sees a few patients. Most BSS psychologists work a compressed schedule – four days a week, 10 hours per day – but they do not punch a time clock and most work more than that. Each does his or her own scheduling. Jablonski explained a typical week, starting with a Friday when a Psych I might be planning the following week. • She has 14 one-hour slots in which she can see people, including existing clients and people who call during the week and want a consultation. • She has already indicated in the master schedule when she is available to see clients.

• She is assigned to four divisions (as is each Psych I). She will schedule time at each division. • She will attend a staff meeting with her peers, Jablonski, and her immediate supervisor on Wednesday morning every other week. • Like the other psychologists, she will be working on projects such as intervention programs, so she will set aside time for research, development, and writing training materials. • She might need to schedule time for teaching, depending on her specialty. • Additionally, each week, starting Wednesday morning, the staff rotates on-call responsibility. The on-call members will be available for emergencies, both clinical and for the CNT. While the police psychologists may have trained side by side in college with other professionals in their field, a day in the life of a police psychologist differs greatly from a clinician in private practice. They hold the same licenses, they use similar techniques, and they protect their clients’ confidentiality just like their cohorts in the civilian world. But there the similarities end. For instance, group therapy does not work in a police setting because all sworn officers would have to report any misconduct. “Let’s say we had a group of individuals who had drinking problems,” said Jablonski. “And one of the members of the group in the course of therapy said, ‘you know, last Saturday I think I downed two six packs, got in my car, and drove home from the bar. I almost hit somebody driving home.’ In private industry, in society at large, we could manage that, but here, the employee would be required to report that.” So although the psychologists have protected confidentiality, that confidentiality cannot be extended to the rest of the members of the group. In private practice, many patients are seen in the evening or on weekends, while the police psychs have regular hours Monday through Friday except when they are on call. While the private practitioners charge high fees, they must spend part of their time running a small business and collecting from patients and insurance companies; police psychologists receive a salary. The police psychologists have the advantage of close colleagues with whom to share ideas or to do peer consultation, while people in private practice are often isolated. Differences exist for the clients as well, including cost, how many sessions you are permitted, and the way that you decide to seek help. The main difference involves the pocketbook. Although these services in private industry cost $120-$180 an hour, the department pays for counseling. It is free to the employee. Not only that, but, as Jablonski said, “Most [insurance] plans these days – you get 10 sessions and that’s it.” Although the average duration in therapy at the department is only about eight to nine sessions, he said, “We have some people who come in for maybe one session, we have [others] who

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come in over the course of two years, maybe 40 to 50 times. It really depends on what the issue is. ... If someone is in need of psych services, and we can provide it to them, we will. We don’t say, ‘you’ve been here 20 weeks and you’re still depressed – time’s up.’” Not everyone decides on their own to seek counseling. Unlike other employers, law enforcement agencies can require employees to seek counseling. Jablonski said, “That is because POST [Police Officers Standards and Training] requires that police officers be free of psychological impairment. The department has established a procedure by which people could be directed to BSS for evaluation and possible assistance if their behavior at work is being impaired or negatively affected by something.” That does not mean that if an employee of the LAPD selfrefers, the counselors will go running to that person’s boss. On the contrary, he said, “If in the course of therapy, in a confidential session something [comes up] that is otherwise reportable by all other employees [in the department], we don’t have to report it because state and federal law protects our confidential relationship.”

(The only exception would be in case the client has revealed harm to others or self: Child abuse, elder abuse, suicide, or planned homicide would be reported.) Just like police officers, they are there to help others, and like everyone else in the force, the people at BSS are responding to immediate needs. “We get calls throughout the week, and at odd hours of the day and the weekend from people in need and my staff is always there ... We do a lot of that. I don’t think police officers and employees in general realize the extent to which BSS is caring for – providing assistance to – significantly depressed people and suicidal people, every week,” said Jablonski. “Will some people in our department never use our services?” he said. “I would imagine that’s going to be the case. They wouldn’t touch us with a 10-foot pole. ... with the younger generation we’re seeing a greater willingness to reach out to us. ... Having said all that, we get hundreds of officers every year who visit us for thousands of sessions – [those] who do, in fact, find our services and a connection with a trained clinician a safe environment in which to address issues.”

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Helping the helpers The LAPD Employee Assistance Unit By David A. Brown

t’s not unreasonable to assume that those who uphold the law do so with unshakable stability. There’s no doubting the resolve of those who wear the Los Angeles Police Department badge and those supporting them through civilian positions, but when these brave and noble men and women experience their own needs, who helps the helpers? Fortunately, there’s a good answer to that question: the Employee Assistance Unit (EAU). Part safety net, part helping hand, part arm around the shoulder, EAU links department employees with the services and resources needed to get them through some of the same difficulties they address in their public service. Lieutenant Jorge Macias, Officer In Charge for the LAPD’s Work Environment Liaison Section, oversees EAU. Macias said the unit was originally attached to the department’s Behavioral Science Section, which provided counseling services for employees and their families. As the department grew to its current level of almost 13,000 employees, a central point for funeral coordination became necessary. Over the past two decades, Macias said, EAU has increased its scope to provide a broad range of life services. “Our department employees serve the public, especially during some special need; EAU serves our department employees during their special needs,” Macias said. “In addition to the bereavement leave afforded employees, the peace of mind that comes from knowing one is not enduring a challenge alone helps our employees move forward successfully. “We fill their needs on a human level, spiritual level, and even financial level. Healthy employees serve their community more efficiently and humanely.”

Image courtesy of LAWPOA

HELP IS NEAR The scope of EAU services includes: • Funeral Coordinators – Arrange for all or parts of funeral services, in the event of an employee death. They assist employees with funeral services for family members; disseminate information on the deaths of retired employees throughout the department; and coordinate department representation at funerals of officers killed in the line of duty throughout Southern California. • Peer Counseling Programs – EAU oversees the Peer Support Program, which is made up of approximately 170 department employees. The Peer Support members receive specialized training in order to provide support

Members of the LAPD Honor Guard. and direction to fellow employees who are going through difficult times or who are in need of assistance. • Financial Counseling Team – Provides financial guidance counselors and/or resources to department employees. • Chaplain Coordinator – Coordinates approximately 54 chaplains from a variety of faiths and denominations who serve police department employees and their families at various department services and funerals. • Chemical Dependency – EAU coordinates with chemical dependency counselors to assist employees or employee family members facing chemical dependency issues. • Liaise with Military Liaison Office (MLO) – EAU works with MLO in the event an employee activated for military service is killed in action. • Police Honor Guard Services – EAU coordinates the department honor guard, which provides services at department funerals and at special events. The honor guard is a volunteer program made up of approximately 43 members who provide full police honors at funerals for all sworn police department employees. They also present flags at funerals for retired police officers. Macias said that funeral arrangements and related needs are the most common assistance provided by EAU. With approximately 13,000 employees, the department loses five to 10 each year to illness or line-of-duty deaths. Additionally, EAU assists 20 to 50 individuals with funeral arrangements or related needs.

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WHEN HELP IS NEEDED EAU assistance extends to any department employee or dependent child, including full-time college students. The unit also provides advice and guidance to other law enforcement agencies that have never had an officer killed in the line of duty. Asking for help can be intimidating, but EAU’s commitment to sensitivity and confidentiality ensures a comfortable course of action. “Collectively, our two funeral coordinators have over 11 years of experience,” Macias noted. “Additionally, they have extensive contacts including multi-denominational clergy, a variety of funeral homes, and financial counselors. By establishing a rapport with the employee, our people elicit the necessary information from those in need and we are able to tailor our services to their needs. “Many times it is the employee’s commanding officer or supervisor who notifies [us] and asks what can be done to assist the employee in need. One of EAU’s members then makes contact with the employee and walks them through whatever process is needed.” In certain circumstances, EAU duties overlap with those of the Department Wellness Coordinators (DWC) – two sergeants on-call 24-7 for sworn officers and a management analyst available during regular hours for civilian positions. DWC Sergeant Whit Pauley said that crossover with EAU often occurs in the case of a serious injury that eventually claims an officer’s life. “For example, if a motorcycle cop [experiences a severe accident], we will go in and develop a relationship with the family and address their needs,” he said. “If it looks like the officer is going to die, then we will bring in the EAU to deal with the funeral arrangements and other details.” Other areas of DWC involvement include: death of a department employee’s spouse or dependent child; emotionally distraught or suicidal employee; chemical dependency; employee in need of a spiritual leader, psychologist, therapist, or

LAPD officers salute the flag-draped casket of LAPD SWAT Officer and Marine Sgt. Maj. Robert J. Cottle, who was killed while serving in Afghanistan, during a funeral procession in Los Angeles on April 13, 2010. Cottle was the first LAPD officer to die in combat in Afghanistan, where he’d served two previous tours of duty. The EAU provides assistance in the event of an officer’s death.

peer support member; and employee in need of financial assistance and/or counseling. “When a Department Wellness Coordinator or the Employee Assistance Unit reaches out to one of our employees in need, they often don’t expect it and are pleasantly surprised for the concern and appreciate learning about resources that could help them and their family,” Pauley said.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT Reflecting psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, employees perform best when unhindered by burdensome distractions. No one knows this better than Officer Smith (name changed for privacy) who, in 2003, found herself confronted with her son’s severe alcohol dependency issues. Upon returning from military service, the young man’s drinking problem prevented him from finding work and led to several incarcerations due to bar fights. Mentally and emotionally draining, this problem weighed heavily on Smith until she learned that EAU would provide the means to a treatment program that restored her family’s solidity. “I was not in a financial position to place my son in an alcohol rehabilitation program, although he was more than willing to be placed in one,” Smith said. “I was told that a scholarship could be awarded to me if I would complete an application that described my financial situation. Although somewhat embarrassed about this disclosure to other department personnel who may have been on that selection committee, I was never made to feel anything less than supported by a counselor who had been there and understood what I was going through.”

AP Photo/Jason Redmond

“On that tragic occasion when we lose an officer in the line of duty, we assist surviving family members with funeral preparations,” Macias said. “Additionally, we guide surviving family members through the bureaucracy of pension forms, life insurance, and other related issues.” As Macias noted, the EAU stands ready to assist department employees and their families in the most challenging situations. Case in point: When an employee died while on vacation, EAU coordinated efforts to transport the remains back to the United States and worked with the family to secure a funeral home and cover burial costs. In another example, an LAPD officer deployed on active duty was killed in action while serving in Afghanistan. Liaising with military authorities, EAU guided the officer’s widow through the lengthy process of bringing her husband’s body home. Assistance in coordinating a military and departmental funeral completed the honoring of a fallen comrade.

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LAPD employees can turn to the Employee Assistance Unit as well as Department Wellness Coordinators for help and support in times of hardship.

Smith encourages any department employee with challenges they can’t handle to reach out to EAU for the help that’s readily available. “The advice that I would offer other LAWPOA members is to recognize how truly blessed we are to work in an organization that takes care of their own in those times when we experience personal crises for which we may be too embarrassed about to ask for help,” she said. “Members of our EAU go through a highly specialized selection process. They are skilled professionals who are assigned to this unit not because of a degree earned but because they have ‘lived’ experiences that they want to help other employees and their families with. My past experience with this unit gives me the confidence in knowing where to refer anyone who may have similar problems to manage – the LAPD’s EAU!” Pauley added: “I think it is much more than getting their needs met. Our sworn and civilian employees work very hard to serve and protect the people who live, work, and visit our city. Not only do our employees put their lives at risk for the sake of others, they do it while sacrificing time away from their family and friends, oftentimes working nights, weekends, and

holidays. Generally speaking, our people are very self-reliant problem solvers.” But when personal problems become too great to bear, knowing that help is near provides an essential support system that keeps department employees operating at full potential. Pauley said that support for department employees comes right from the top. “Chief [Charlie] Beck expects his employees to work hard and to do their best while at work,” he said, “but when an employee faces a crisis or catastrophic event, the chief wants to make sure we are doing what we can to help. “Our employees would continue to work hard and serve professionally whether the department helped them with a situation or not. But hopefully after the crisis or catastrophic event has passed, our people will walk away knowing when we say, ‘LAPD family,’ we mean it!”

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SHARPENING SKILLS By David A. Brown

Image courtesy of LAWPOA

here’s no “I” in “team,” but there are three in the word “individual.” For the Los Angeles Police Department, the success of the team depends on the strength, commitment, and continual development of its individual members. This speaks to one of the Los Angeles Women Police Officers & Associates’ core principles – sharpening the skills that members need to do their jobs. Recognizing the inherent value of training and education obtained by motivated members, LAWPOA invests much time, effort, and resources into making such opportunities possible. Just ask Angeles Reynoso, secretary to the assistant commanding officer, LAPD Detective Bureau. In early 2010, Reynoso attended the 2010 Seattle Police and Fire Women’s Leadership Seminar and later, she completed an intense four-day training course: the 37th Annual Administrative Professionals Course, which was held in San Francisco. Financial assistance from LAWPOA made both opportunities possible. “LAWPOA’s monetary contribution, which aided me in the opportunity to attend these courses, is one thing, however, it was their unsolicited endorsement and encouragement that provided me the personal incentive to do my best and not fail their high expectations,” Reynoso said. “LAWPOA’s unyielding and continuous encouragement [compels] their members, such as me, to not only develop and improve our professional skills, but to heighten our self-confidence and self-esteem.” Reynoso said the San Francisco event, for which she received Continuing Educational Units, included relevant topics such as: Stress Management, Conflict and Self-Esteem, Dealing with Difficult People, Making Relationships Work, Time Management, Memory Improvement, Building Trust and Rapport, and Working with People. Reynoso said that the experience provided insight and opportunities for personal and professional growth. “Throughout the conference, the individual subject matter that was presented to me on a daily basis offered much needed insight,” she said. “Each topic in the course agenda was so pertinent to my current position that I walked away with a high sense of self-confidence and accomplishment. “In addition, I did have the opportunity to meet and network with a good number of working female professionals from across the country. I was able to absorb their knowledge and experience in the area of administrative professionalism.”

LAWPOA is committed to continuing training and education for its members. Through scholarships, workshops, and participating in events such as the LAPD’s women’s leadership conference, LAWPOA strives to make learning opportunities readily available.

Like many LAPD employees committed to growth and improvement, Reynoso recognizes the value of increasing her knowledge and sharpening her skills. “I continuously pursue insightful and beneficial courses that will provide me the tools necessary to enhance my knowledge and experience in my line of work.”

EMPHASIS ON EDUCATION Currently, a career in law enforcement requires only a GED, however, as LAWPOA President Detective Deborah Gonzales noted, many law enforcement agencies have implemented new educational requirements for promotions to various ranks. In the LAPD, for example, employees interested in promoting to sergeant and lieutenant may need to have a minimum number of college units, whereas a bachelor’s degree may be necessary for the rank of captain and higher. “At some point in a young officer’s career, he or she may need to re-evaluate where they want to go in the food chain and make appropriate decisions as to how best to get there,” Gonzales said. Reynoso added: “The bar for higher education has risen among both ranks of the sworn and civilian personnel. It

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would behoove anyone, whether they desire to advance in the department and/or to better their work performance to increase their level of education and training.” LAWPOA facilitates this by offering three annual $1,000 scholarships to members enrolled in college. Scholarship applicants compete by writing a statement of purpose that goes through a selection committee chaired by one board member and up to three high-ranking LAWPOA members. Sergeant John Vasquez, a 33-year veteran of the LAPD, has focused mainly on training and development. He said that in addition to promotions, formal education better equips department employees – sworn and civilian – to perform at a superior level. “During my long tenure, my college education and law enforcement training have worked hand-in-hand very well in so many of my varied assignments,” Vasquez said. “I am currently assigned to an administrative position where I report directly to an assistant chief. Over the years, I have acquired communication and writing skills that I initially attribute to my college education. These skills enable me to be an asset to my commanding officer. Also, my law enforcement training provides me vital insight which I continuously utilize, as this is absolutely essential to my current position.” In addition to scholarships, LAWPOA assists members with training funds for career enhancement conferences, workshops, or seminars, as in Reynoso’s case. To spread available funds among as many individuals as possible, LAWPOA limits the donations to one per member per year.

Lieutenant Katrina Thomas of the LAPD Risk Management Division supports the notion of LAWPOA members pursuing college course work, but she offered an important real-world perspective. Thomas points out that, while college education should never be downplayed, there’s much to learn and develop beyond the classroom. “Training is always paramount, and an advanced education does not necessarily equate to leadership skills or abilities that are [critical] in tactical incidents,” she said. “There is a viewpoint that a higher education increases the ability to do the job, but it really still depends on the individual’s communication skills.” To this end, LAWPOA further facilitates member development by mentoring its own. Experienced members counsel, coach, and guide the up-and-comers by sharing their wisdom and perspective with those pondering career decisions. Vasquez said that helping officers at all levels identify and hone their key skill sets is important for the department’s overall efficiency. For sworn positions, Vasquez said, “Communication, writing, listening, and having common sense are basically essential for any law enforcement officer. Being tactically savvy, flexible, and adaptable to any given situation is also important for a sworn officer.” For civilian jobs, Vasquez points to time management, communication, comprehension, and working well with others as primary skills. As Gonzales explained, the LAPD’s promotional exams for the ranks of police sergeant and police detective occur on alternating years so that they are not given during the same year. For civilians, their exams run yearly. LAWPOA encourages its members to take advantage of training that can help prepare them for promotion opportunities. “All in all, our members routinely seek training that can assist with improving their oral interview skills, writing skills [for essay portions of their exams], and current trends facing the department,” Gonzales said. “As an organization, we try to offer training in those areas on a monthly basis by highranking officers or civilians who can be most helpful. These training sessions are our Lunchtime Training Workshops. When we aren’t providing the training, we are often asked to host a lunch for other divisions within the LAPD who are conducting training seminars.” Beginning in 2010, LAWPOA will be offering a yearly professional development symposium that will feature training topics that will benefit all employees in law enforcement. Members can find additional listings

Image courtesy of LAWPOA

The LAWPOA 2010 Professional Training and Development Symposium is scheduled for October and will be open to both LAWPOA members and non-members.

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for seminars, conferences, and other such events in the Educational Opportunities section on the LAWPOA Web site (www.lawpoa.org).

REMAINING RELEVANT In this age of ever-changing technology, no one can afford to fall behind in digital skills. From basic computer operations to communication devices, staying sharp and staying current bears significant career impact. Typically, younger employees often bring high levels of digital competence, however older employees may struggle with technological advancements. Aptitudes vary and some may never fully embrace the digital revolution, but acquiring and developing related skills is paramount for 21st-century law enforcement work. “In this area of advanced technology it has become of utmost importance that we can no longer remain stagnant in the past,” Reynoso said. “Out of pure life-sustaining necessity, we must require our law enforcement officers at all costs to pursue such education and training. Continuous changes and upgrades in our field of work are constant reminders that in order to keep up and to improve our performance, we must do the same with our focus on education and training.” On this point, Vasquez agreed. “I have seen over the years how we are not only surrounded by – but absolutely dependent

on – computers, cell phones, radios, cameras, and a variety of high-tech equipment. We need more training and education in order for us to keep up with this ever developing science of higher technology. What we learn today will be phased out by tomorrow. Ongoing education and training is essential for us not only to keep up, but for self-development as well.” Reynoso said her experience with LAWPOA’s educational assistance has inspired her to help motivate fellow members to take advantage of the opportunities to increase their knowledge and abilities. “I would not hesitate to encourage each and every one of our LAWPOA members to actively seek out courses of higher education and training that will be beneficial toward their goal of self-improvement and their ultimate desire to advance in this department’s organizational structure,” she said. From Thomas’ viewpoint, LAWPOA members should integrate big-picture awareness with their personal goals. Properly balanced, these different outlooks can provide a clear vision of the road best traveled. “I always advise not to lose sight of the reasons a person came into the job,” Thomas said. “If they said ‘To help people,’ that means everyone and always, regardless of position and rank – not just yourself. To do this job is an honor and a privilege and should not be taken lightly. “Keep learning and keep trying. It is not only street survival but survival within an organization.”

Argosy University – Online Programs is proud to support 100 Years of Women in Law Enforcement. Now, you can help shape the next 100 years and advance your career with an online degree from Argosy University. We offer a number of great degree programs that can fit into your busy life including bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and psychology as well as master’s degrees in forensic psychology and public administration. So, don’t wait any longer to advance your law enforcement career, contact Argosy University today. Call 1-866-427-4679 or go to http://online.argosy.edu/request/ for more information 2233 West Dunlap Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85021 Argosy University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and is a member of the North Central Association (NCA) (30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60602, 1.800.621.7440, www.ncahlc.org).

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Is Your Work Environment Whistle-blower Friendly? By Dr. Deborah A. Gonzales, Detective Supervisor, Los Angeles Police Department

f you witnessed a co-worker or partner being outwardly discriminated against because of his or her gender, race, age, physical attributes, sexual identity, or sexual preference, how comfortable would you feel reporting this to a supervisor or, at the very least, being interviewed about what you saw or heard? Would your answer be any different if you were the receiver of this type of conduct? Chances are that the answers are exactly the same. If you are fortunate enough to feel comfortable reporting organizational misconduct regardless of who the victim may be, consider yourself lucky. You may be working in a whistle-blowing-conducive work environment. However, if you immediately quivered at the very thought of reporting this behavior to someone within your organization who can ensure that this conduct would stop, quite the opposite may be true; your work environment may not be an ideal avenue for reporting organizational wrongdoing. An organization with employees who believe they are unprotected and exposed to discrimination and harassment may create the perfect breeding ground for low morale, low work productivity, workplace incivility, and employee civil action.

Whistle-blowing According to Miceli and Near (1984), whistle-blowing is the disclosure of organizational wrongdoing by a current or past employee to a person or entity with the power and authority to correct the reported actions. The act and impact of employee whistle-blowing has been studied extensively since the 1960s. Research about whistleblowing has primarily included the following influential factors: (a) organizational factors such as the structure, culture, and climate, and codes of conduct (Barnett & Cochran, 1992; Dozier & Miceli, 1985); (b) the individual whistle-blower, in terms of personality characteristics, development of values, belief systems, and ethical judgment (Barnett & Cochran, 1992; Rothchild & Miethe, 1999); (c) loyalty conflicts (De Maria, 2008; Mesmer-Magnus & Viswesvaran, 2005); and (d) situational causes, such as the seriousness of the wrongdoing, position and influence of the whistle-blower within the organization, and perceptions about what is real or perceived wrongdoing (Jos, Tompkins & Hays, 1989; Keenan, 1995).

Despite what has already been studied and written about the act and impact of whistle-blowing, there are few, if any, studies that illustrate best practices for creating the ideal environment that has employees willingly come forward to report misconduct for the good of the organization. Police, fire, and military professions are unique in that they each create environments that measure loyalty and solidarity by an employeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s willing compliance to strict policies and procedures that are monitored by a chain of command. These policies typically include a very linear procedure for the disclosure of organizational wrongdoing that does not encourage disclosure outside of the organization. To do so is usually perceived to be an act of disloyalty with purely selfserving motives.

The Effects of Whistle-blowing Corporate whistle-blowing can result in a number of repercussions, such as co-worker alienation, job position loss or status, or actually becoming the catalyst for the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s downfall. In military or paramilitary organizations, as with municipal police agencies, military and police officers immediately learn the benefits of unconditionally trusting their partner officer for protection and back-up assistance during life-threatening situations. This unique relationship

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dynamic over time forms close relationship ties that build into strong cohesive and protective bonds among officers (Henik, 2007; King, 2003). This relationship also has the propensity, however, to create an â&#x20AC;&#x153;us versus themâ&#x20AC;? mindset that could eventually become shrouded in a bond of quid pro quo secrecy (watching each other at all cost) or code of silence. Surveys distributed to police officers indicate that this intentional silencing occurs in all ranks and in all departments and that many officers intentionally choose to not report misconduct for fear of what may happen to them or what may not happen to the person they report on (Trautman, 2001). The decision to internally report misconduct is a difficult process for police officers. They face fears that can range from not being believed to being ostracized and/or socially removed from the close work environment they consider as close as or closer than their own families. When organizations respond negatively, ineffectively, or completely fail to respond to reports of organizational wrongdoing, these responses break relationships of trust between the whistle-blower and the organization. They create loyalty conflicts that cause future whistle-blowers to remain silent or seek resolution outside of the organization for a more acceptable recourse of action (Sims & Keenan, 1998). The police culture can be as distrusting and unforgiving internally within its own police community as it is of the outside (community): a closed culture that easily mirrors a dysfunctional family system that has the power to emotionally cannibalize the weak in the guise of maintaining tradition, silence (keeping dirty laundry at home), and blind loyalty.

Internal Versus External Reporting Some organizations like the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), for example, offer several internal options for reporting wrongdoing as an attempt to create an environment that encourages internal disclosure. The effectiveness of having multiple resource options, however, may be difficult to determine particularly when LAPD officers have continued filing civil lawsuits as a means for resolving reported wrongdoing. In August 2000, Bradley C. Gage, Los Angeles attorney, spearheaded a class-action lawsuit representing 40 current and former Los Angeles police officers (Lait & Glover, 2000, p. A1). When employees do not trust that their reported concerns of organizational wrongdoing or maltreatment (including harassment or discrimination) will be properly addressed by the organization, however, their typical next recourse is to use external resource options. Whistle-blowing, whether by internal reporting process or external disclosure to outside resources, creates a rippling effect from which it is very difficult for the whistle-blower to recover. If reported within, the whistle-blower is many times ostracized and criticized by peers for betraying his or her brother officer. Management views the disclosure as evidence of being a disloyal malcontent.

Regardless of the whistle-blowerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intention in seeking outside resolution, organizations must consider the benefits of properly managing internal reports of wrongdoing. The benefits of effectively managing reported organizational wrongdoing are many. Enhancing employee trust in the internal reporting process is another story. How can strict bureaucratic organizations with low tolerance for whistle-blowing encourage the internal reporting of wrongdoing while discouraging possible negative impacts that may occur such as organizational backlash or retaliation?

The LAPD Study: Are Multiple Resource Options the Answer? In a recent study conducted within the LAPD of how police officers perceived the act and impact of reporting specific types of wrongdoing through the use of multiple resource options, over 70 percent of the participating officers indicated that they would prefer to initially contact supervisors within their own chain of command rather than seek out other specialized resource options. The LAPD study also revealed that over 60 percent of these same police officers believed that they would be subjected to harsh treatment and alienation from peers and supervisors for reporting the wrongdoing through internal resources (Gonzales, 2010). Offering employees multiple resource options can cause more confusion and overwhelm than the encouragement their existence would appear to provide.

The Ideal Whistle-blowing Environment The ideal whistle-blowing environment is one where employees feel supported and encouraged to report organizational wrongdoing. Ineffective or poorly managed reports of wrongdoing bring negative consequences to the reputation of the organization and those who work within it. Losing the trust of your employees is a difficult and lengthy journey from which to recover. Employees who perceive that the organization has miserably failed to protect them from or

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Create a misconduct reporting process for employees that allows the reporting employee to receive immediate assistance for the resolution of the reported behavior, intermediate transfer opportunities should a formal investigation occur, and options for informal mediation, when appropriate.

References

even acknowledge reported real or perceived harsh treatment feel a deep sense of betrayal that can manifest into intentional or unintentional behavioral conflicts at work such as diminished work productivity, work or home relationship conflicts, absenteeism, increased irritability, and/or development of work-related health symptoms. Perceptions drive behavior. If your organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary goal is to proactively deter workplace harassment and discrimination, lower the incidence of employee-generated lawsuits, and ensure the safety and protection of its employees from whistle-blower harassment, then creating a whistle-blower-friendly work environment is a giant step in that direction. Here are a few simple cost-effective remedies for curing an ill or diseased work environment. 1. Provide one specialized reporting source with the power and authority to investigate, track and disseminate trends, mediate conflict with or without disciplinary measures, and guide and oversee effective resolution options. 2. Ensure that all supervisors have the tested knowledge, skills, and abilities to mediate employee conflicts and reports of employee-related harsh treatment, harassment, and discrimination. 3. Disseminate anonymous information periodically to all employees about successful resolutions to whistle-blowing. 4. Visually post employee resource options in high- traffic employee areas to educate employees about where to obtain information about harassment or discrimination-reporting options. 5. Create a code of conduct that delineates expectations of employee behavior and workplace conduct that is enforceable at all levels of the organization. 6. Work performance evaluations for supervisors and commanding officers throughout the organization should reflect how employee reports of wrongdoing were resolved within their respective commands and assignments.

Barnett, T. & Cochran, D. S. (1992). A preliminary investigation of the relationship between selected organizational characteristics and external whistle-blowing by employees. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(12), 949-959. Barnett, T., Cochran, D. S. & Taylor, G. S. (1993). The internal disclosure policies of private-sector employers: An initial look at their relationship to employee whistle-blowing. Journal of Business Ethics, 12, 127-136. De Maria, W. (2008). Whistleblowers and organizational protesters. Current Sociology, 56(6), 865-883. Dozier, J. B. & Miceli, M. P. (1985). Potential predictors of whistle-blowing: A prosocial behavior perspective. Academy of Management Review, 16(4), 623-636. Henik, E. (2007). Mad as hell or scared stiff? The effects of value conflict and emotions on potential whistle-blowers. Journal of Business Ethics, 80, 111-119. Gonzales, D. (2010). The Act and Impact of Whistle-blowing on the LAPD. Pepperdine University, Malibu, California. Pp. 171 Jos, P. H., Tompkins, M. E. & Hays, S. W. (1989). In praise of difficult people: A portrait of the committed whistleblower. Public Administration Review, 49(6), 552-561. Keenan, J. P. (1995). Whistle-blowing and the first-level manager: Determinants of feeling obligated to blow the whistle. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 10(3), 571-584. King, W. R. (2003). The command rank structure of American police organizations. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 26(2), 208-230. Lait, M. & Glover, S. (2000, Aug. 25). LAPD sued by whistle-blowers. Los Angeles Times, p. A1. Mesmer-Magnus, J. R. & Viswesvaran, C. (2005). Whistle-blowing in organizations: An examination of correlates of whistle-blowing intentions, actions, and retaliation. Journal of Business Ethics, 62, 277-297. Miceli, M. P. & Near, J. P. (1984). The Relationships among beliefs, organizational position and whistle-blowing status: a discriminate analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 27(4), 687-705. Rothchild, J. & Miethe, T. D. (1999). Whistle-blower disclosures and management retaliation. Work and Occupations, 26(1), 107-128. Sims, R. L., & Keenan, J. (1998). Predictors of external whistle-blowing: Organizational and intrapersonal variables. Journal of Business Ethics, 17, 411-421. Trautman, N. (2001). The truth about police code of silence revealed. Law and Order, 66-76.

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LAWPOA 100 years of women in Law enforcement

Book Spotlight

Beyond the pages of Policing Women:

The Sexual Politics of Law Enforcement and the LAPD Author Janis Appier discusses her book and how it came to be By Vera Marie Badertscher

were more like social workers than law enforcement officers, but the women of the teens and early ’20s accomplished what they were striving for. Women’s civic organizations had the objective of crime prevention. Prevention was a new policing model and met with strong resistance, but women activists

Cover image courtesy of Temple University Press

he first Los Angeles Police Department policewomen could not wear uniforms, and when the powers that be finally issued them guns, the ladies stowed them in their purses, along with their badges. No doubt the purses coordinated with the plain white dresses they wore. And long before they were called Officers, they were City Mothers. While those descriptions seem laughable to today’s policewomen, Janis Appier explains in Policing Women: The Sexual Politics of Law Enforcement and the LAPD that the “pioneering generation” that served in the teens and ’20s of the 20th century approved. Appier, now retired from the University of Tennessee, wrote extensively about women and criminal justice during her academic career. She initially did the research for Policing Women as part of her dissertation in the late 1980s, and the book was published in 1998. Appier’s father served on the LAPD force for 26 years as a plainclothes homicide detective, retiring as a lieutenant, so she grew up thinking of Los Angeles police officers as family. While writing a graduate school project on the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 in Los Angeles, Appier came across an article published in 1943 that mentioned policewomen. “That made me wonder how long women had been around in policing,” she said. When she started looking for books about policewomen she found books on “... the use of the dog in police work, but I couldn’t find a single book about policewomen. There were books on guns, and on uniforms, but nothing on women.” She finally found one book published in 1925 on women police in the previous 15 years in the United States as well as in Great Britain, which proved very useful in her book about women police. The book Policing Women begins with a general history of women’s growing involvement in criminal justice, starting in the late 1800s, and then focuses on the LAPD. What Appier writes about the pioneer policewomen indicates that they

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The book Policing Women begins with a general history of women’s growing involvement in criminal justice, starting in the late 1800s, and then focuses on the LAPD. united and pressured politicians and police forces to pay attention. They volunteered or women’s clubs paid women to work with police, and the idea of women in police work became fact. These reformers saw that women and children in the criminal justice system needed unique protections. But even more importantly, they believed that if they could get young people on the right track, it would prevent those children from growing up to become criminals. Furthermore, they believed that women had different skills than men, and being natural nurturers and guardians of morality, they could deal more humanely and effectively with women and children. They had no desire to take on what they saw as men’s jobs of enforcement. As early as 1882, Chicago had put matrons in city jails to care for women, and in 1892, Florence Haythorn taught boys up to age 16 who were in city jail awaiting trial and served as a probation officer. But, says Appier’s book, “Ironically, had she pursued probation work in the 1910s, 1920s or 1930s, she would have found that her sex barred her from handling the cases of her students. The professionalization of probation work in the early twentieth century generally restricted female probation officers to cases involving girls, women and boys under the age of twelve.” The first city-paid woman on the LAPD, Alice Stebbins Wells, owed her appointment to the election of a “Good Government” city council intent upon cleaning up corruption. As an assistant pastor, she inspected places where youngsters might be led astray, such as dance halls and penny arcades and movie theaters, and when she set up her office at the LAPD, she continued those rounds. “As the pioneering woman officer of the LAPD, Wells encountered many obstacles, some of which she found farcical. For example, streetcar conductors frequently refused to grant her the free ride that they always gave to

policemen because they refused to believe she was a LAPD officer” (from Policing Women). The book goes on to say that once a conductor even accused her of stealing the badge from her husband. Appier’s history explains why and how another pioneer of the LAPD, Aletha Gilbert, successfully established a separate Woman’s Bureau within the department and created the role of City Mother. A separate building for the Woman’s Bureau could be made friendlier to the women and teenagers that they counseled. Policing Women underlines the fact that these separate facilities gave the women more autonomy while at the same time meeting the goal of not appearing threatening to men who might fear that women were going to take over policing. Mina Van Winkle, a Washington, D.C., policewoman, made the case for Woman’s Bureaus in a 1926 speech to police chiefs in terms that make today’s policewomen wince: “It is much easier for women to put women to work. Men are a little bit gallant; they are a little bit polite even to policewomen. Women are very hard to manage. ... Then, too, a policewoman can’t deceive another woman as she can a man ... It is a hard thing ... for the women to learn not to look in the shop window, not to have her [sic] thoughts turn inward and think about herself, but to think about the job” (from Policing Women). “These were very powerful women ... in their abilities and their drive and their belief in what they were doing was the right thing,” said Appier in an interview. “They were so fired up. I really did admire them, even as I saw that they should have perhaps thought, ‘we don’t always know better than the people themselves what’s good for them.’ It is understandable because they had to sell their idea to a very resistant audience – the police chiefs, the city councils – to all these men. They had to sell this idea that giving women the power to make arrests was a good idea, so they couldn’t show any intellectual or psychological musings to the contrary.” Speaking about her research, Appier said she felt very fortunate to have the help of descendents of some of the pioneer women of the LAPD. Coming upon an old newspaper clipping that mentioned a visit by a daughter to her mother led Appier to a treasure trove of family information about Aletha Gilbert. The clipping mentioned a visit by Aletha’s

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100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

daughter, who had the unusual last name of Staininger, along with the daughter’s infant son. Appier said, “I was always wanting to track down these people’s descendents, but when your name is Aletha Gilbert or your name is Alice Stebbins Wells, there’s a zillion of them. And this was before the Internet ... all the stuff that makes it so easy to do research now.” But now she had the name Staininger to work with. She went to the U.C. Davis library to look up the name in every telephone book in the United States, and wrote a letter to each one and explained what she needed. One reply led her to 80-year-old George Staininger of Glendale, Calif. He was the grandson of Aletha Gilbert, the little boy in the newspaper article. “He said that his mother had been the daughter of Aletha Gilbert and Aletha Gilbert had kept all these records ... she kept these enormous scrapbooks and she had cut out every newspaper article ever written about her – they did get a lot of coverage in London and Japan in particular because they wanted to follow suit and hire women,” said Appier. There were boxes and boxes of material, including notes about Gilbert’s cases, all indexed. Staininger invited Appier to come to his house and look at it. She drove to Glendale from northern California and set up shop in the dining room of Staininger’s home. Because his wife was ill, he went out to get food and always asked the researcher in his dining room what she would like to eat. Not only did he deliver food, but as a retired engineer, he had his own copy machine so she could make copies of everything she needed. Meanwhile, Staininger told her about his own mother’s memories. “That is why Chapter Three is so rich in detail about the City Mother’s Bureau,” said Appier. She also talked to the son of Alice Stebbins Wells, the first policewoman, and he sent copies of his mother’s papers. “Wells ‘appointed herself’ as first historian of the department,” said Appier. “It was a smart move ... because that way she could write the women into the story.” She also interviewed policewomen, she said. “None of them [the policewomen she interviewed] worked alongside the pioneering generation, but they had lots of stories to tell about what it was like to be the second generation, because they came along in the 1940s. They had a lot of memories, but they were never permitted to work alongside them. They were given men to be their mentors.” Appier continued, “The crime prevention model that the pioneer women were pushing goes into a slow, long, agonizing death in the 1930s. By the end of the Depression, the start of World War II, it’s dead. So [the book is] really the story, I think, of the birth of the crime prevention model of police work, how it was the women’s idea to do this. ... That was so much more important than just simply detecting crime and arresting people. ... If you could somehow figure out how to get to the kids and stop them from turning into adult criminals ... divert them from doing things. If you could prevent women and children as these girls were

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Dr. Janis Appier, center, pictured with Chief William Bratton and Detective Deborah Gonzales.

becoming victims of crime ... that is the truest and highest calling of a police force.” Not only did policing become more masculine in the ’40s, but male officers also co-opted the prevention functions introduced by women. Departments found they did not need a Woman’s Bureau to do community policing, characterbuilding activities such as the Police Athletic Leagues, or Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, Appier pointed out. Appier’s book, Policing Women, digs beneath the historical events of women’s long history in the Los Angeles Police Department to consider the motivations of the pioneering generation, their successes, and their shortcomings. Despite the fact that many of their ideas seem quaint today, without the persistence and fortitude of the pioneering generation, policewomen would not be such a strong part of the LAPD today.

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LAWPOA 100 years of women in Law enforcement

BUILDING A SOLID SWORNCIVILIAN RELATIONSHIP By Charles Dervarics

s the nation marks the 100th anniversary of the first sworn female peace officer, it’s important to recognize the many factors that contribute to the effective deployment of police on America’s streets today. Increasingly – in Los Angeles and elsewhere – the ability to provide a highly visible police presence is due in part to the work of civilian employees, many of whom work behind the scenes on critical public safety tasks. From answering 9-1-1 calls to processing warrants and analyzing crime scene evidence, civilians play an increasingly integral role in the day-to-day operations of police agencies. In the Los Angeles Police Department, about 3,000 civilians work in administrative, technical, scientific, and administrative support positions. They play critical roles in risk assessment, statistical analysis, complaint reviews, data entry, and technology management. In fact, the department has more than 100 different civilian job classifications, hiring civilians through a civil service process with many required exams. In Los Angeles, the link between sworn and civilian employees has grown to the point where the Los Angeles Police Protective League – the union representing sworn officers – strongly opposed cuts in civilian jobs during the current recession. The league’s message: Civilian employees pave the way for more officers to work on the street. In addition, with civilians taking on an increasingly significant role in LAPD and elsewhere, it is important to build a culture of cooperation between sworn and civilian staffs. “Without the support of civilian employees, there are many critical items that would not get done,” said Sergeant Ignacio Verduzco, a leader of the department’s risk analysis unit that analyzes incident reports and personnel conduct issues. Of 11 staff in his unit, eight are civilian analysts who compile and analyze case information and patterns of conduct with recommendations for action. Verduzco reviews the recommendations and then determines whether an incident or trend merits additional oversight by a risk management executive committee.

Evolution of a Partnership In his 26 years on the force, Verduzco has seen a sworn/ civilian relationship evolve from one with some conflicts to one that features an effective working partnership. A generation ago, he noted, many civilians were strictly clerical staff.

Over time, however, that has changed as more civilians have bachelor’s and master’s degrees with specific skills in crime analysis, technology, audits, and forensic analysis. “The evolution of law enforcement science has been greatly enhanced by having a more open relationship with our civilian partners on the job,” he said. Many civilian employees have criminal science and statistics degrees, and they are adept at DNA technology among other new trends. “With all the new technology we’ve been able to clear homicides through DNA technology we have today,” he said. Not surprisingly, he noted, sworn officers have recognized the increasingly important role played by civilian employees to support and extend the department’s work. “The relationship is very positive,” he said. “We believe that everyone in the unit is essential, and everyone should support that.” Prior to joining risk analysis, Verduzco worked in inspections and audits where a 60-person department was half civilian and half sworn officers. Civilians in that unit conducted professional audits and had detailed knowledge of crime information and statutes. Verduzco credits the strong relationship to a top-down commitment by the department to cooperation among civilians and sworn officers. “It goes back to leadership and showing respect from the top,” he said. While changes have occurred in the civilian ranks for decades, the evolution of women in LAPD civilian posts is even more dramatic. Years ago, many worked in clerical positions. Today, they may conduct inspections and audits, review crime

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100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

scene data, and have the knowledge and training to make important assessments and recommendations. “Law enforcement as a profession has evolved,” according to Verduzco. “It’s much more professional – including the civilians.” Civilian women also are taking on greater roles. Among other leadership posts, they currently direct the LAPD’s information and technology bureau and the large administrative services bureau, which itself includes 1,200 employees. “We offer opportunities to promote based on merit and performance, and it goes back to the federal government’s commitment to equal opportunity,” Verduzco noted. Such a policy is “continuously reinforced [by the department], and it reflects the law.” The emerging role of female civilians also is evident in the growth of the Los Angeles Women Police Officers and Associates. Initially designed for female police officers, the organization broadened its reach in recent years to include civilians – hence the word “associates” in the organization’s current title. “Before that, the group was open only to sworn officers,” said Enid Gomez, a civilian management analyst at the department. Today, LAWPOA builds camaraderie and expertise by offering lunch workshops and, for 10 years, an annual women’s conference. An 11-year veteran of the department, Gomez serves on the board of LAWPOA and has seen a major shift in attitudes during her time with the department. “At first there might be trust issues between sworn and civilian staff, especially if the civilians had no background in law enforcement. That all has changed significantly.” Gomez credits the change to leaders who recognized civilians as an increasingly important part of 21st-century law enforcement. “The public benefits from this teamwork. It comes across in your day-to-day actions because LAPD can send more officers out to the field,” she said. Not that Gomez always has sat behind a desk. Asked to help analyze a new policy on police pursuits of suspects, she attended several roll calls and went on several “ride-alongs” to review officer behavior on the road. In addition to changes in procedures for vehicle pursuits, the revised policy called for greater use of helicopters in pursuing suspects with an eye toward reducing the risks inherent in high-speed car chases. As a result, Gomez had a chance to go on some “fly-alongs” as well, including one related to a homicide. “I didn’t think twice about going out, and it was encouraged,” she said. “These trips gave me such a greater understanding of the work of sworn officers.” Sworn officers also welcomed her, since her independent analysis ultimately could provide important input on the execution of the new policy. “That’s the kind of cooperative spirit you need to make it work,” she said.

More Opportunities, Greater Growth Another factor in the strong sworn/civilian relationship in Los Angeles is the mobility available to civilians

Opposite and above: Placing civilian personnel in positions such as dispatch and crime scene analysis, to name just a few, is essential in making it possible to have more sworn officers work on the street.

once they begin work at the department. Rather than use a static personnel structure, LAPD developed a career ladder for many civilians including management analysts. Ultimately, this policy helped Gomez move up the ranks to a higher level. It also enabled her to work in different units, gaining a variety of important experiences and a better understanding of the agency’s myriad functions. “LAPD is very dynamic,” she said. “You could have any type of job here.” Currently, as a Management Analyst II, she coordinates all maintenance and repair issues for the central LAPD district. Her office serves as a liaison to city government to make speedy repairs to electrical, plumbing, and other physical plant issues. “This work alone takes a big load off the plate of sworn officers,” she said. There is both top-down and bottom-up support for cooperation between sworn and civilian staff, said Lieutenant Kat Thomas, officer in charge in the Risk Analysis Section, Risk Management Division. “Respect is key,” said Thomas, whose unit includes 45 employees, both sworn and civilian. Thomas’ path to LAPD was somewhat unusual: She worked as a marriage/family therapist for seven years and has a doctorate in clinical psychology. Still, she says, the move to police work 15 years ago was “the best thing I ever did.” In her current post, Thomas oversees 10 department employees in risk analysis – who review complaints – and 35 employees assigned to the task of discovery. The latter group

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100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

is responsible for public information requests, and they also gather reports for public defenders and for court trials. Since about 75 percent of her employees are civilians, Thomas made it a priority to study best practices in management to better mold the sworn and civilian staff into a cohesive unit. As a result of this approach, Thomas said she developed a participatory management approach. “Everyone is allowed to tell me what they want,” she said of her philosophy. “I’ve got an open door, but when it comes to a decision, I’ll make it and take the responsibility for it.” She says this approach works well with both sworn and civilian employees, since it helps employees take a vested interest in their unit. Across the department, some of the best examples of sworn/ civilian cooperation are in divisions where close partnerships aren’t just encouraged – they become a necessity. Such is the case for Jan Kuris-Doherty, assistant officer in charge of the Protected Activity Evaluation Unit, Risk Analysis Section, Risk Management Division at the LAPD. A 13-year veteran of the department with a master’s degree in social work, Kuris-Doherty previously led a community agency and had worked in the city’s community development department. In her current post, Kuris-Doherty evaluates current and potential policies to reduce civil liability in discrimination or retribution (employee v. employee) legal actions. In her day-to-day work, Kuris-Doherty works closely with her counterpart in the sworn officer ranks, Detective Deborah Gonzales, the current president of LAWPOA. Together, the two have designed training programs, sometimes joining forces to teach a workshop together. “We’re partners,” Kuris-Doherty said. “She treats me as an equal, and as an equally talented individual.” Among other collaboration projects, the two worked together to advance the idea of regular training for all LAPD supervisors on issues related to retaliation and harassment. “We identify skills in the department that we believe are important to advance an important message,” she said. In the case of retaliation and harassment issues, the two leaders were able to build training into existing classes. “Our program is an administrative management tool. It introduces relevant material and promotes good strategic planning,” she said. Kuris-Doherty said she and Gonzales started working together in 2008 after they were co-located in the same work area. Over coffee, the two discussed common elements in their job responsibilities. “We clicked right away. We initially respected each other.” Looking back on her experiences, she said one key requirement is for sworn officers to be open to providing information to civilians with similar roles and responsibilities. “We never had a conflict over the purpose of our jobs,” Kuris-Doherty said. “We approached them from an integrated perspective.” Today, the two frequently team-teach at the district’s civilian supervisor school or at the supervisor school for sworn

Detective Deborah Gonzales speaks at the LAPD’s 2009 women’s leadership conference. LAWPOA aims to build camaraderie between sworn and civilian personnel. officers. They cover topics such as sexual harassment and other behavior issues.

LAWPOA’S ROLE The partnership with Gonzales is not a surprise to LAPD veterans, since the detective is the current LAWPOA president, responsible for advancing issues of interest to women in all areas of the department. Under Gonzales’ leadership, the organization has nearly doubled its membership – in part by reaching out to civilians to find common ground on women’s issues. On its Web site, LAWPOA emphasizes the need for women at LAPD to work together “as one team” to increase membership and raise the professional image and status of women in law enforcement. Since opening its doors to civilian members, LAWPOA also has supported efforts to help its members advance within LAPD. Among other services, the organization offers books and resources to help civilians prepare for promotion exams. Information is available at the group’s Web site, www.lawpoa.org. Through its regular programs and annual conferences, the organization carries forward the message that LAPD benefits from a strong relationship between sworn officers and civilians. “The important point,” said Kuris-Doherty, “is for all employees to feel that they’re making an important contribution.”

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LAWPOA 100 years of women in Law enforcement

An Interview with Fran Townsend Former Assistant to President George W. Bush for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and Chair, the Homeland Security Council, the White House By Rich Cooper

all it drive, initiative, or self-starting survivalist instincts, few people can compare with the experiences that Frances “Fran” Fragos Townsend brings to the table. From prosecuting mafia bosses and their henchmen in New York City under Rudy Giuliani; serving as a senior counsel to then-Attorney General Janet Reno during the Clinton administration; becoming the first Assistant Commandant for Intelligence for the U.S. Coast Guard before ultimately becoming the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and Chair of the Homeland Security Council in the administration of George W. Bush, the native New Yorker has proven her mettle in the ultimate pressure situations. Working now as a partner for Baker Botts, LLP in Washington, D.C., and as a frequent CNN and media commentator, Townsend’s reputation for frank talk to people in power is widely known and respected. In a 2006 profile by Time magazine, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice explained, “Fran says exactly what’s on her mind. … I’ve heard her say many times in meetings, ‘No Mr. President, that really isn’t getting done.’” In the same profile, Time’s reporter, Douglas Waller, also revealed that at age 11, the working-class kid from Wantagh, N.Y., would not let the denials of her parish priest, bishop, cardinal, or the Vatican deny her the opportunity to be an altar server at Mass. The only thing that stopped her was a quick priest who caught her trying to sneak into the Mass in a borrowed robe. That may be the only time she has been stopped in her tracks. Townsend is recognized internationally for her thinking, analysis, and candor. It was those skills as a non-political civil servant that became prized by the top levels of both the Clinton and Bush administrations and led her to multiple positions of authority and influence in legal circles as well as the national and homeland security communities. She would have to draw upon those skills and more to deal with everything from the 9/11 attacks; the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005; facing down Libyan dictator Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi; all while navigating the politics of

intelligence and law enforcement agencies, the Middle East, and the most challenging of all, Washington politics and bureaucracies. 100 Years of Women in Law Enforcement: National security, like military and the law enforcement community, has long been dominated by men, but over the past decade and a half, more and more women like yourself have taken on very visible but also very demanding leadership roles. As one of the people who has been part of this leadership evolution, can you describe what it’s been like to have been part of this evolution? Townsend: You know, it’s an interesting thing because this is not particular to a single political party. I saw it during the Clinton administration. Madeleine Albright was secretary of state. Janet Reno was attorney general. Jamie Gorelick was the deputy attorney general. And you saw it during the Bush administration even more so, frankly. He [President Bush] had a female White House counsel [Harriet Miers]. Condi Rice was national security advisor and then secretary of state. Margaret Spellings was over at Education. You know, you saw very powerful people. And so now, it’s funny, at varied senior ranks in the political and policy community it kind of seems much more normal that there are women who are competitive and women who are very senior in the ranks of national security. But, there are still places that we have not seen women leaders. I think we will and … I’m optimistic we’ll see it in my lifetime. The secretary of defense has never been a woman, nor has the director of the CIA, or the director of the FBI. There are places yet to go. While they’re very senior positions, they’re much more operational. And I think that’s a road yet to be traveled for women. I think they will. I think you’ve now got competent, qualified women who’ve got the kind of experience. I think we’ve just assumed it a natural bias towards men. In the national security trade, some of that is you need women to have the right kind of experience to be truly competitive for those positions. More and more now you see women in senior roles including the career ranks, which you didn’t before,

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whether that’s at the CIA or the FBI, with the kinds of experience that will position them to be competitive, and I think that’s great.

Fran Townsend

Do you think there’s a difference between how men and women operate in the national security and homeland security spaces? I’m going to resist [making an] analogy, because I think we sometimes make most generalizations that aren’t really accurate. I will say this, very often you find women can be not less competitive – because I think they’re equally competitive – but I think approaches can be different. Women can be aware of that getting to the strategic answer, the strategic result, and are less proprietary about how they get there. For instance, men are often very proprietary in how they get there. They do want to get to the strategic result but they tend to be more proprietary about getting there. What does that mean? That means, in my experience at least, women are incredibly pragmatic. For instance, who gets the credit? Sure, women want to get the credit when they’ve been part of producing a result, but they’re very willing to share it as long as they can get there. I think that’s an advantage for women because women give credit away because they’re willing to share credit with all those who contributed to the results.

Photo courtesy of Fran Townsend

Since the Bush administration and Obama administration and even the Clinton administration that you alluded to earlier have been able to place women in top national and homeland security positions and they’ve performed just as well as men, can we say that proverbial “glass ceiling” has been shattered? Well, I think Secretary [of State, Hillary] Clinton said it, she put millions of cracks in it. I think it’s a much weaker glass ceiling, but, as I mentioned to you, there are places that women have not gone and it tends to be the more operational, the senior operational jobs [like] the FBI, CIA, and secretary of defense. But I think that we can get there in my lifetime. What do you know now that you wish you had known when you took the job of advising the president on homeland security matters? I learned the importance of not just working from one position. When you accept a role like that of advising the president, you’re responsible for the federal government and so your

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focus is very much looking at all the tools of national power across it. What you realize uniquely is, … in the homeland area as opposed to other aspects of national security, the importance of vertical relationships. That is, all the way from the local sheriff, a rural sheriff, to big major city police departments like the NYPD or LAPD, your real homeland security, including the security of every American, requires relationships not only across the federal government but also across the country, the state and local communities. I spent a lot of time on that, and not that it was so surprising, but the importance of it can’t be underestimated. This is really about grass roots communication with first responders, understanding their perspective, their needs, and their requirements and then incorporating that into a federal strategy. I think we did that when I was there [at the White House] and I think during the Bush administration we put a greater emphasis on that than had ever been seen before. I met with sheriffs in the West Wing of the White House. I talked to them about their frustrations and their needs, and we really worked very hard in incorporating them at both the strategic and operational level. A job like yours is not something that someone just applies for by answering an ad. What skill sets do you have to have to succeed in a position such as an advisor to the president and how do you survive in that grueling environment? I think people would be surprised that they’re the same skills that are required to succeed in a corporate environment, in a commercial environment, almost in a military environment. It’s got to be mission first. It can’t be about you as an individual. The mission is too important for egos to get too involved. I mean, it’s got to be that mission. There are no hours to this job. I mean, it’s not as though I could tell you, “oh I worked, you know, 8-10-15-20 hours a day.” I worked as long as it needed me to be there. And the time goes very quickly, so you find you’re working six and seven days a week. You cannot in any way constrain your commitment to the mission and to the position. So in the end you have to understand that what you do, the president owns the successes and you own failures. That is a fundamental truth about advising the president of the United States. You must be selfless in the success and you must be actually willing to stand up and be responsible for the failure. What’s the most serious threat to the homeland today and how do we address it? I wish I could say there was only one that I worry about, but there are two really strategic threats that I see to the country. One involves the safety and security of our cyber infrastructure. It’s so fundamental to our economy, to our military, to our commercial supply chain that I think we must do more

and I fear that we’ll wind up coming to a tragic catastrophe to get the nation’s attention on it. The other one, frankly, is nuclear terrorism. I find that if we go back and look at the past decade, al Qaeda will issue their statement declaring their intentions, and while it may not be immediate, they do act on their intentions, including the September 11 [attacks]. [Osama] Bin Laden issued a fatwa years ago now that said there would be weapons of mass destruction against civilian populations inside the United States. And I worry because it is so unimaginable the consequences of such an attack that we’re not doing enough to take it seriously. I was pleased to see the president talk about this at the Nuclear Safety Summit, but I think we have to see more than these meetings. We must see action and follow-up to those things, particularly efforts at the head of state level. So nuclear terrorism and cyber are the two strategies that I worry most about now. Over the course of your career, you’ve had the opportunity to interact with a range of leaders from judges, elected and senior government officials, corporate execs, community leaders, military personnel, presidents, and so forth. You’ve also had the opportunity to face down criminals, political backstabbers, and even Libyan dictator Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi. Do the same skills work for dealing with all those types of people or are there other skills that you need to draw upon to deal with adversaries? You know, I think it’s interesting that when you’re dealing with leaders around the world, even in the United States, it’s easy to be taken aback, to be intimidated by it. I think you have to [have] the benefit of really knowing the material, understanding what the objectives are. And you really need to hold your ground. Now, that doesn’t mean being stubborn. I think it means a willingness to honestly engage. But to do that confidently, you have to really know your stuff. I would spend tremendous amounts of time preparing to go into meetings, especially with foreign leaders. You have to be at all times respectful. But that, being respectful, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t disagree. You’ve got to be clear about what your objectives are and you’ve got to be willing to listen and understand and be cognizant of the times you have to compromise. You may not reach your ultimate objective in one move, it may require several moves. You’ve got to understand what somebody else’s objectives are. I used to say I learned everything I needed to know [about] dealing with foreign leaders when I got to the third grade and learned about Venn diagrams. Remember the overlapping circles and there’s the shaded part in the middle? Well, each country is one of those circles. We each have our own national objectives. You’re not trying to get them to sign onto your objectives. What you’re doing is looking for that shaded part in the middle of the two circles. Once you find that and identify that and can come to some sort of common understanding, you try to widen the shaded part and make more.

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100 years of women in Law enforcement LAWPOA

Townsend speaks during an interview in her office in 2004 when she was President George W. Bush’s top counterterrorism advisor.

AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson

I think we did that very successfully with our allies when it came to Saudi Arabia in the fight against terrorism. Does that mean we share a higher percentage of the same objectives? No, but we share complete agreement on a really important one. That’s what I think the current administration is trying to do with the government of Pakistan, and it’s really, really important, and so even when you’re meeting with somebody like Gaddafi, you’re trying to understand what his objectives are and whether you can find any common ground. Let’s talk about Mu’ammar alGaddafi. You were the highest ranking U.S. official to meet a man that Ronald Reagan was literally trying to bomb out of his tent. What was that like? It was extraordinary. Since I met with him, then-Secretary of State Rice … met with him as have others. But at the time, we had successfully swayed his government to give up their WMD program. They had then been – after a very sort of heated debate inside the administration, the then-Bush administration – … taken off the state sponsors of terror list, but we weren’t making the kind of progress that we wanted to make until I was asked to go and deliver a letter from President Bush to al-Gaddafi. It was a bizarre experience because when we got there, we did not have an appointment. We waited at what was then a temporary American Embassy and I had gone to a series of meetings with other officials from the Libyan government. We waited and I was going to leave because I didn’t think or know if I would get the meeting, but at the last minute we were granted permission to come meet al-Gaddafi. I met him at his military base. That’s the same compound, by the way – you

mentioned President Reagan – we … bombed during the Reagan administration. When I went, when I was on the military compound, I was driven past the facility that we had bombed, which had special lighting. My car stopped in front of it. There was nothing said. I then asked the question why we were stopping here and … there was no real answer. They ignored the question. I then said, “If you’re waiting for me to apologize, that’s not going to happen.” Nothing was said. The car kept moving and I was taken to an … Arab tent where the meeting took place. I found it interesting because I found al-Gaddafi to be extraordinarily well prepared for the meeting. He knew exactly who I was both personally and professionally. He made sure I knew he knew and he was prepared to engage on concerns that he had about the ongoing bilateral relationship between Libya and the U.S., the details of which are really confidential because I was there not for myself, but for President Bush. But I’m telling you I think it’s important that we just need to continue to engage the Libyan [government]. I have concerns about their relationships and their views. The al-Gaddafi relationship with the King and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a very volatile relationship and frankly is of tremendous concern to me. I think it’s the real task of whether or not they are willing

to renounce all acts of terror and interference in other countries and other countries’ foreign policies. And so, that said, I think the way of dealing with those concerns is to continue to engage them and hold them accountable for their actions. Part of your job, and you alluded to this earlier, is dealing with threats coming from the Middle East, a portion of which is not particularly welcoming to having women serve in roles of leadership much like the ones that you held and those that Secretaries Albright and Rice held and that Secretary Clinton as well as Secretary Janet Napolitano now hold. How did you prepare to deal with that dynamic? Did you experience any pushback in having any of these countries want to go around you because you were a woman? I had none of that. No experiences like that at all. I’m going to tell you an interesting story. When I was first asked – or was directed – by President Bush to go to Saudi Arabia, I took a series of briefings with the State Department, from the CIA, from the FBI. Time and again I was told this would be a very difficult assignment because of how women are treated there and the fact that it might do more harm than good if the president sent a woman. And so, for the one and only time I did this, I went to President Bush and said

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Terrorism experts and homeland security leaders including yourself have said it’s not a matter of if we’re attacked but rather a matter of when we are attacked again here in this country. Are you surprised we’ve not been attacked? Well, yes and no. I am not surprised that we’ve seen the number of attempts we’ve seen, and I am not surprised – because of the extraordinary efforts and capabilities we’ve built since 9/11 – that we’ve been able to thwart many of these attacks. I’m not surprised by the fact that al Qaeda finds themselves with a reduced capability to act inside the United States. After all, we’ve increased our border security, our screening procedures. We’ve strengthened our relationships with our allies around the world in terms of combating terrorism. That said, I am surprised that besides all of that, you know that the government’s got to be right every time. They’ve [terrorists] only got to get right once. If they do not have at least some success at launching an attack inside the U.S., I do think that it’s only a matter of time. I am not saying I find the mistakes we made on the Christmas Day attempted bombing and our inability to identify Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab [the man arrested for attempting

Townsend (right) pictured in 2006 conversing with Harriet Miers, White House counsel at the time.

to bomb Northwest Flight 253] in advance a concern. They are [of concern]. Our inability to take information that we collect at the State Department or in the intelligence community and turn that into knowledge that we can act on is a disappointment to me and it ought to be a disappointment to the American people given the time, money, and effort we’ve put in to fix that problem. I have every reason to believe that the Obama administration and the senior people around him were equally disappointed and are acting on that to fix that and correct that. But I’m telling you, that requires an everyday attention. It can’t be that people get distracted by the tragedy of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Somebody’s got to pay attention to the information sharing people every single day or you’re going to see further acts and one of them may be successful. What lessons do you think we still have to learn from 9/11, Katrina, and the other emergencies? The importance of acting seamlessly in the area agencies. Again, it’s not just across the federal government, but including our state and local partners. It is frustrating to me that we’re going to come up on the 10th anniversary of September the 11th and our information systems still do not speak to one another. That’s not a technical problem. That’s a policy problem. That’s a leadership failure. They can, and there’s proof that the technology exists which makes [them] perfectly able to … actually seamlessly talk to one another. It’s a failure of the bureaucracy to submit itself to that, to the system, and I just think the American people. If we have another attack in the United States and information resides in an agency that’s not shared, and working for the good … look at Fort Hood. Information absolutely existed inside the Department of Defense that was not understood

AP Photo/Ron Edmonds

to him, “you know, this is too important for the bilateral relationship to risk by sending them a woman and so perhaps you should not send me.” You know, I did, in a sense, question his decision to send me. I think it is fair to say that he was irritated with me and then his response to my questioning of him was, “You clearly don’t understand the Saudis. It won’t matter who or what you are. The fact is this is not about you. If I’m sending you, you are my emissary. That’s all that will matter to them. And, so, you’re going.” Interestingly enough, it turned out he was absolutely right. Not only that, I found it to be actually an advantage because I had all the power of a man in traditional Arab society … at that level of seniority in government and yet they were kind to me in a way that they reserved for women and how they treat women. So, when I was there on official business, I did not wear a hijab or a veil as it was not required, although I did wear it if I was not going to a meeting. If I was going out to a social event, I would wear it just out of respect. But, I really had an incredibly productive relationship. I was treated extraordinarily well, not only with protection but I was welcomed into their homes – not only with the government officials, but with private people in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well. I met many times with President Saleh of Yemen. With the Emir of the UAE [United Arab Emirates], the King of Bahrain and the Crown Prince, so I was received throughout the region. There was nowhere in the region that I was not both welcomed and respected, and not just that, but I was able to actually be productive in advancing the interests of the United States and in a national security position.

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and shared with the FBI. Now, we had a number of soldiers as a result of that murdered at Fort Hood. That’s horrible. Imagine attacking American citizens in [a] civilian context where hundreds or thousands die. Americans will not tolerate that. I don’t think we’ve done enough to solve that problem and God knows I tried while I was in government. I think we made some progress but it’s not nearly enough. You know Secretary Napolitano from your previous work at the White House as well as your service on DHS’ National Advisory Counsel. Aside from her working in a different administration, how do you see her doing the job of DHS secretary differently from her predecessors Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff? You know, I think people come into that job probably not appreciating the fact that it is the most difficult job in the government. One, it’s a very large bureaucracy. Two, the DHS secretary’s job goes beyond protecting America’s borders. It has real consequences in local communities and that makes that job all the harder. I think the secretary has come to appreciate just how difficult it is to communicate what she’s doing in an effective way to the American people. People react slowly to changes in policy that protects their lives, whether it’s screening at airports, or if they don’t like the images that are going to be displayed to an officer at TSA, or if it’s because they’re on a no-fly list. All of these things have implications to everyday American lives and are not necessarily liked. I’ve known all of the secretaries and each has had different styles of communicating, and I think it’s fair to say that, in my view, we need to do more talking to the American people. Not just amid the crisis; not just when there is news on a policy issue, but … think about immigration reform – that’s a priority to talk about. But [for] lots of issues on an on-going basis, there needs to be more talking with the American people. Whether it’s Secretary Napolitano or Secretary Chertoff or Secretary Ridge, each one of them I think would tell you we need to communicate more with the American people.

AP Photo/Ron Edmonds

What were the greatest lessons you’ve learned from your career in national and homeland security? It’s interesting, when you do your job and you make decisions every single day that affect average Americans and after I left government and I did a lot of public speaking, I realized that there’s an incredible sense among communities of support for the mission. Oftentimes the debate is around how do you get there? What is the path by which you’re going to be successful? It’s funny, I realize that that’s where you can actually learn a tremendous amount. Not from talking but from listening in local communities and in groups, the interest groups.

I think that we can do more to engage and build the support of the American people for the mission. Why do I think that’s important? Because I think we have got to get away from this notion that your government, which has the responsibility to protect you, can actually successfully execute that mission on its own. It can’t. To build the support of the American people requires research. It requires information. And after all, the role of our first responders and DHS employees literally revolves around the communities in which they live and they want to feel proud of what they’re doing. They want to be successful. And so we really have to meet with governors and mayors to have this sense of ownership in the American people through the mission. It’s not just DHS. It’s not just your local police. We all have to have a sense of ownership about the success of that mission. Not just a sense of “oh, who do I blame when it goes wrong.” What words of wisdom do you have to offer to any young woman who wants to go into the national security arena? I want to be honest. It’s a very demanding role and I think you have to understand [that] when you go into it in place of some other career choices you can make where it’s easier to have a chance of control of management over your own time. This really is a complete commitment and you have to understand going in oftentimes you cannot ... you don’t have control of your time. But it’s a matter of you’ve got to love the mission. You’ve got to love it enough to make certain sacrifices and you have to be willing to get the buy-in of your family. I think that a woman now has the good fortune they can have husbands and children, and as we get older we also have the responsibility for our parents. All those things can be managed and you can still have this incredibly exciting career. But it’s important that you’re talking at home about what that requires because it’s not just your commitment: It requires the sacrifice and commitment of your family. We associate that and we know that with our men and women in uniform. We understand military families by now. I think we understand that that’s also true in this community, in the national security community for civilians. Everybody in the family has got to sign on or you’re not going to be successful. Look, I’ve been blessed. I feel an obligation to say to you that also includes a nanny. I have a nanny. She’s been with me since my oldest child was born and she’s part of that network. Most professional women, especially in this arena, but not only in the national security arena, will tell you that they had an infrastructure support that includes child care and help at home without which they can’t do it. And so I think women have got to understand to have a successful career, especially in [the] national security community, the pressure of having to do it all yourself and, you know, to be honest with each other that it requires support and that’s okay.

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protecting america Women leaders in the homeland security arena By Rich Cooper

n one of her most famous letters to her husband, John, Abigail Adams admonished him to make sure that “particular care and attention” be “paid to the ladies,” so as to make sure that they have “voice or representation” in the country’s laws. While those words have long been an inspiration to the equal rights and suffrage movements of American women, they are also a powerful message of the role women want to play when it comes to safeguarding our nation’s freedoms and liberties. For nearly a century, women have formally served the U.S. military in a number of critical roles. Equally important is the role that women have played in providing for public safety in cities, towns, and communities across America, but in the post-9/11 world, there are newer and equally impressive roles that they are playing that would make Mrs. Adams particularly proud. Going remarkably unacknowledged and unheralded is the fact that significant portions of America’s leadership in its burgeoning homeland security apparatus are led by women. From the two top federal positions at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS); numerous senior positions throughout the 220,000-person department; the leadership of the U.S. Congress as well as numerous state, local, tribal, and private-sector organizations; women possess some of the most visible and significant roles in America’s homeland security enterprise. Starting at the top, Janet Napolitano, as the secretary of Homeland Security, has embraced without reservation the challenges of the most complex bureaucratic assembly of agencies and missions since the creation of the U.S. Department of Defense by then-President Harry Truman. Charged by her boss, President Barack Obama, to improve the operational performance and efficiencies of DHS and keep

the country prepared and safe for a range of threats, Napolitano is not alone in the discharge of her duties. Surrounded by a strong supporting cast of political and career personnel, Napolitano is able to have her choice of talent, but it is worthy to note that her deputy as well as her leads for Intelligence and Analysis; Science and Technology; Intergovernmental Affairs; Legislative Affairs; Privacy and more are women. Each of them brings a wide range of military and humanitarian service, intelligence work, medical and research practices, government service, and other distinguished skills to the table. While each of these DHS leaders is distinguished in her own right, the matter of their gender was never a source of public debate or concern among their respective Senate confirmation hearings or political appointments. Each of them offered an individual track record of achievement for debate and consideration. In the end, the only metric that mattered was the same metric every person in homeland security has to satisfy: “Can they do the job?”

The Burdensome Job Metric It is worth noting that homeland security crosses many different professions and is an operational discipline of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” functions. Regardless of what action is taken to protect a critical infrastructure, share intelligence information, or prepare for and respond to a disaster, there will be those detractors who will most assuredly point out the “would’ve,” “could’ve” and “should’ves” to be done. Napolitano’s predecessors in the role of DHS secretary, Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, experienced that firsthand and there has been no let up on her either. The same and often volatile criticisms about border security problems, frustrations with TSA screeners at airports, amounts of grant

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funding awards, and so forth have not gone away, nor have they been muted. With any homeland security job comes the inglorious burden of responsibility for the good days when a range of threats are successfully mitigated and the bad ones when all hell breaks

loose and everyone is looking to you for action. This is a charge with which emergency managers everywhere are familiar. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and being the person in charge means you have to find solutions to

move forward. Those are facts that people like Nancy Dragani, the executive director of the State of Ohio’s Emergency Management Agency, deal with every day. Tornadoes, floods, large-scale public and sporting events, and more are always on her agenda to be ready. Since disasters occur without any warning, it is her charge to have the people, resources, and plans in place to react, respond, and recover, and her leadership in these disciplines is also of note. As the former president of the National Emergency Managers Association (NEMA), “a professional association of and for emergency management directors from all 50 states, eight territories and the District of Columbia,” Dragani’s voice is one of the most sought in the country when it comes to the country’s planning and preparedness needs. In a 2009 presentation before the Heritage Foundation, Dragani noted with concern a pendulum shift toward an attitude of citizen entitlement. Instead of taking the individual initiative to prepare and respond to an emergency, it was her view that all too often people are expecting someone, somewhere to always take care of those steps for them. She noted disturbing behavior trends in these areas following the 9/11 attacks and the disasters following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Her frank and courageous remarks were a sharp reality check for the public and emergency managers everywhere as to what the public expectations from elected officials, the media, and others should be when it comes to reacting and responding to emergencies in all their shapes and forms. While she recognized the need for individuals to take greater responsibility for themselves and their families, Dragani is also quick to point out the critical advantages that collaboration

Photo courtesy of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency

Nancy Dragani

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and partnership bring to overall preparedness. In an interview discussing the difference between men and women operating in the homeland security space, Dragani explained that while there “are no marked differences [between the two sexes] in this profession or any other one, you can’t be successful in emergency management without being collaborative and building partnerships.” As to having those skills, she observed that “women by some degree are more nurturing than men, but that is true in most professions that women occupy.” Dragani further explained that “the way we are raised means we are more collaborative and that trait carries itself forward in any profession we go into.” Because of these conditions, the ability to collaborate and partner with others is something that “plays off of our strengths.” In observing her own professional field of emergency management, as well as others in the larger homeland security profession, Dragani explained that “having those types of traits will bring women as well as men to the table,” and that those skill sets would lend “themselves nicely to anyone for advancement in this career field.”

Recognizing the Accomplishment, Focusing on the Future In March 2009, Kristina Tanasichuk, who serves as the vice president of the Homeland Security & Defense Business Council, founded the group Women in Homeland Security. A professional organization based in Washington, D.C., but with an 800-plusmember, nationwide reach, the group was designed to “provide women with a forum to learn about the many facets of the discipline and to build the connections necessary for their own professional development and for the connections needed to understand the full spectrum of homeland security.” In discussing the recently established group, Tanasichuk shared, “If you told

me I would be starting a group like this back five to six years ago, I would have said that you’re crazy. As my career in homeland security expanded, I found a real dearth of women – I was often the only woman in the room. I found there was a real need for a place where women could come together to network and share what’s happening.” Despite the fact that DHS and other major homeland-centric organizations were led by women, Tanasichuk shared that others felt there remained a need for an outlet for women in this arena. It was their view that too many of the professional portals from which significant portions of the homeland workforce come (e.g., the military, law enforcement, public safety) remain predominantly male outlets. That observation was only compounded by the fact that most leadership positions in firms with homeland security practices were held predominantly by men. While proud of the fact that much of DHS’ leadership is female, Tanasichuk explained that in spite of these accomplishments, there still remain challenges that women encounter in working in this arena. “Women communicate and organize differently” and “have different styles and approaches in doing the job [from men], but both can, and obviously do, get it done.” She also observed that given the expanse of what encompasses homeland security and the diversity of positions and backgrounds of the people serving in it, there needed to be an outlet for women to come together and share what was happening while offering professional mentorship and support to one another. “Homeland security is not yet a cohesive community. There’s a mix of military, emergency management, public health, transportation, cyber, infrastructure, and numerous other disciplines that must find a way to integrate and network as effectively as our iPhones. Women in Homeland Security offers the opportunity to network and contribute to that goal.”

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Kristina Tanasichuk

When pressed to explain the difference in how men and women committed to the same homeland security objective, Tanasichuk explained that women by their nature may have strengths that are conducive to the homeland security/ counterterrorism mission. “Take terrorism as an example. If you don’t take a wide enough look at

the continuum that leads up to a terrorist act, instead of just looking at the singular act of violence, you will never effectively deal with the problem. A common strength among women is the ability to multi-task and assimilate many disparate pieces of information – facts, feelings, hunches, experiences – to get to an answer.”

One of the women that Tanasichuk pointed to as one of the homeland security community’s most promising and public leaders is Washington, D.C.’s police chief, Cathy Lanier of the Metropolitan Police Department. Appointed to her position by Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty in 2007, Lanier’s job in leading more than 3,800 police officers is more than protecting monuments (a job of the National Park Service Police) and shepherding motorcades of dignitaries through crowded D.C. streets. As she described in several Washington newspaper profiles, it is about serving the people she was sworn to protect from crime and harm. Washington, D.C.’s police beat is no different from those of other big cities. Murder, drugs, shootings, and other violence are part of the daily threat with which Lanier and her officers have to contend on a daily basis. All of those problems end up being put on top of policing a jurisdiction that is also one of the world’s top terrorist targets. In a recent profile, Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy opined that in her nearly four years of service, Lanier had transcended both race and gender in serving what is a highly demanding community. With public approval ratings that exceed any of D.C.’s local government officials, including that of her boss, the mayor who put her into the top police position, Lanier observed that, “When I put on this uniform, I am not white, nor am I a woman. I am the po-lice.” In the same profile, the Post’s Milloy recounted the frustration and anger that Lanier had with him over his public questioning of whether a white woman could lead a police force in a mostly black city. Lanier, not one to back down from such questioning, was quick to point out that, “I thought more people would be interested in the new police chief’s

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SALUTING 100 YEARS OF OF DEDICATED DEDICATED

Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department

SERVICE

Cathy Lanier

policies and crime-fighting strategies than in her race and hairstyle.â&#x20AC;? For all of her confidence and success in operating on one of the most public of police beats, the sad fact remains that of all the police chiefs serving in the United States today, only 1 percent of them are women.

In comparison, Dragani, part of the emergency management field, estimated that within the State of Ohio where she works, between 30 and 40 percent of the emergency management directors are women. Dragani also explained that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the field of emergency management and

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homeland security is so broad that anyone who has an interest in any of the professions it offers will find something that fits their skill set. Whether male or female, you can explore all of those options as they become available.” A trend that gave her even more hope and promise for the future was that as “the [emergency management] profession becomes more professional and more people intentionally go into it, rather than back into it as many people have from other career positions, more and more women are going to find these positive opportunities. That will cause that [employment] curve to increase even more.” She also proudly noted that more women are being promoted into leadership positions in emergency management and homeland security and that in itself is very exciting to watch. “The rules are changing daily and this is an easy field to break into,” but having the right skill set is what matters the most when determining future success. That is where Tanasichuk hopes her group can help. “We have to take people like Cathy Lanier, Janet Napolitano, and others and show people that we can do these jobs and do them well. That means not just celebrating that they are at the top of their game, but also supporting others coming into these professions to let them know that they too can succeed.”

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f present history is any indicator of the leadership qualities that have been recorded in given professions, there is a good indication that when the history of America’s homeland security enterprise is written, it will have a resoundingly impressive feminine presence. Below is a listing of some of the key roles women are playing in America’s homeland security apparatus. They include: • Janet Napolitano, Secretary, DHS • Jane Holl Lute, Deputy Secretary, DHS • Vice Adm. Sally Brice O’Hara, Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard • Dr. Tara O’Toole, Under Secretary for Science and Technology, DHS • Caryn Wagner, Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, DHS • Juliette Kayyem, Assistant Secretary, Office of Intergovernmental Programs • Gale Rossides, Deputy Administrator, Transportation Security Administration • Chani W. Wiggins, Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs • Sue Ramanathan, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs • Connie Patrick, Director, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) • Mary Ellen Callahan, Chief Privacy Officer • January Contreras, Ombudsman, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services • Dora Schriro, Special Advisor on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Detention & Removal • Janet Woodka, Federal Coordinator, Gulf Coast Rebuilding

In addition to these senior federal positions, women also occupy some of the most senior roles in Congress over homeland security issues. They include: • Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Ranking Member (and former Chair), U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee • Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., Chair, Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery • Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Chair, Adhoc Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight • Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., Chair, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment • Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, Chair, Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection • Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., Chair, Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology • Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., Chair, Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response

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Shifting Values:

Competing Generational Interests at Work By Dr. Fonda Na’Desh

rganizations have had to face various forms of diversity, for example race, ethnicity, and gender. However, work environments today, no matter what type – corporate offices; police, fire, and military organizations; or nonprofit entities – have a new form of difference: generational. Many work environments support three different generations or an unprecedented mixture of four generations in their workplace: Silents/ Veterans, Baby Boomers, Gen-X, and Gen-Y/Millennials. Older workers are postponing retirement, while members of the youngest generation are entering the workforce in droves. While this situation creates unique opportunities, it also has the potential for clashes and conflicts. For example, some of the seasoned workers see the new employees as iPod and texting junkies, while the younger employees feel that the older ones are stuck in the past. Due to their influences, each generation develops a unique culture and value system, which informs their work

ethic and organizational behavior. Although there might have been concerns with the previous three generations co-existing, for the most part Veterans, Boomers, and Gen-X appeared to adapt to and function with the existing organizational norms and procedures. With the addition of the latest gen-

eration to enter the workforce, Gen-Y provides vastly different challenges for organizations. The sum of all three (or four) generations in the workplace, at times, creates a conflict in values, resulting in a challenge to both manager and co-workers. This article highlights the shifts in values with a focus on the

Table 1

American Generations (from 1920 to 2002) based on Research of Strauss and Howei Name Silent (Veteran) Boom (Baby Boomer) Thirteenth (Gen-X) Millennial (Gen-Y)

Generation Information 15th American Generation (Total born in the U.S.: 54.9 million) 16th American Generation (Total born in the U.S.: 78.7 million) 17th American Generation (Total born in the U.S.: 93.0 million) 18th American Generation (Total born in the U.S: 100.2 million)

Years 1925 - 1942

Age Range 85 - 65

1943 - 1960

64 - 50

1961 - 1981

49 - 29

1982 - 2002

28 -

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latest generation and provides suggestions on bridging the communication gaps between and among the generations.

Generations Defined Although “generation” could refer to familial ties, this article focuses on the generational cohort-group defined as a set of individuals born within a specific timeframe. More specifically, generational researchers Strauss and Howe (1991) define the cohortgeneration (subsequently referred to as “generation”) “as a society-wide peer group, born over a period roughly the same length of time as the passage from youth to adulthood … who collectively possess a common [generational] persona.” A generational persona or peer personality contains “three attributes: perceived membership in a common generation; common beliefs and behaviors; and a common location in history” (p. 41). Unfortunately, not all researchers agree on generational delineations. Generational grouping, at times, seems to be more of an art than a science. For this article, Strauss and Howe’s (1991) groupings are most appropriate since they take into account the generational personality attribute of beliefs and behaviors including attitudes on family life, gender roles, institutions, politics, culture, lifestyle, and the future, all of which are influenced by one’s value system. The researchers identified 18 American generations; five of the 18 still have living members. Table 1 identifies the four generations still in the work environment.

American Generations Described Since generational values are a product of the environment in which the group lives during the formative years, the following section provides a brief overview of each generation. In addition, Table 2 reveals many generational influences as well as each generation’s perceived values.

Silent/Veteran The Silent/Veteran generation, as named by historian William Manchester, is thought to be more of an in-between generation. Many of the members were either born too late to be

The common name given to the generation, Generation X (Gen-X), is said to have been coined by Douglas Coupland. actively involved in World War II or born too early to be a part of the young rebel crowd of the Baby Boomers (Strauss & Howe, 1991). Silent/Veterans were children and young adults of a rebuilding nation, of technological innovations, and of a change in lifestyles and attitudes. This generation provided the vision and the work needed to create many of the structures and processes used in the United States in the last century (as well as the current century) with an attitude of “doing what is right” and “taking charge.” Silent/Veterans supported a delayed gratification behavior by waiting their turn by working up the ladder and working hard and long (many choose lifelong employment at the same company) with an expectation of having a comfortable retirement.

Boom/Baby Boomer Experts differ on the dates of this generation more than any other generation. The name is attributed to the increased birth rate starting just nine months after the return of the World War II veterans. Many of the Boomers, especially the ones born before the mid-1950s, grew up in a time of optimism and economic expansion. The children were cherished by their doting parents. This type of child-rearing is thought to be the influencer for the self-indulgent, instant gratification, don’t trust authority, “Me” generation. Many in this generation experienced (directly or indirectly) the Summer of Love, Kent State, Vietnam, and the Apollo moon landing (Strauss & Howe, 1991). Members of the Boomer generation are said to be trendsetters. This generation still dominates the workforce with many in positions of leadership. For the last 20 years, Boomers have created and implemented many processes and policies of organizations, largely influenced by their predecessors (Silents). Their work was their identity, many worked 50 and 60 hours, much to the detriment of their personal lives. Many stayed with one company and paid their dues to maintain job security.

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Table 2

American Generations in Organizations: Influences and Personaii Generation

Additional Names

Influencers/ Seminal-Events

Members

Values

Organizational Persona

Silent (Veterans)

Veterans Swarzkopers Traditionalists Mature Loyalists GI Joes

1929 Stock Market crash The Great Depression The Great War Technological innovations Rebuilding nation

Lee Iacocca Warren Buffet Martin Luther King Jr. Gloria Steinem Sandra Day Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor

Sacrifice Conformity Commitment Loyalty Law and order Respect for authority

Working up the ladder Delayed gratification Working hard and long Take charge Displaying company loyalty

Boom (Baby Boomers)

Protest Me Sixties Love Yuppie

Child centered Economic expansion Kennedy (John & Robert F.) and King assassinations Vietnam War Kent State Apollo moon landing

Janis Joplin Angela Davis Donald Trump Al Gore Oprah Winfrey Steve Jobs

Optimism Personal gratification Personal growth Youth Involvement Education

Pay dues Previously believed in job security Driven Lack of work/life balance

Thirteenth (Gen-X)

Baby Busters Slackers Post-Boomers Xers Generation Next MTV Generation

Latch-key/television babysitters Iranian hostage Nixon resignation Increased divorce rates Milk-carton kids Corporate layoffs Information age

Mark Andreessen Michael Dell Venus Williams Tiger Woods Quentin Tarantino Jeff Bezos Jerry Yang David Filo

Diversity Balance Technoliteracy Fun Self-reliance Pragmatism

Free agent Self-taught Work/life balance Seeking challenges and personal growth Multitaskers

Millennial (Gen-Y)

Echo Boomer Nexters Generation Y Generation 2001 Nintendo Generation N-Geners

Child-centered Ubiquitous Computing The Berlin Wall (fall) Columbine Violence (on television/games, in life)

Michael Phelps Dwayne Wade Avril Lavigne Bow Wow Prince William Mary-Kate Olsen

Achievement Independence Adventure Openness Creativity Competence

Collaborative Technology savvy/ dependent Resilient/adaptable Selfish Impatient/ ambitious Lack of loyalty

Gen-X/Thirteenth Although some experts start this group after 1964, Strauss and Howe (1991), as well as others, identify the start of this generation between 1960 and 1964 (inclusive) based on generational personality. The common

name given to the generation, Generation X (Gen-X), is said to have been coined by Douglas Coupland. Strauss and Howe acknowledged the resentment of these labels by the cohort members and labeled the generation as the Thirteenth for various reasons, one of which is that it is the 13th generation since the ratification of the U.S. constitution.

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• •

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Although Gen-Yers experienced an era of the child, many were born into single-mother households. Gen-X’s childhood began in 1962 (the approval of the pill and Roe v. Wade). Gen-X has a generational persona as survivors, ones who can take care of themselves. Most possess a pragmatic attitude that is, at times, mistaken for a lack of interest, pessimism, or as one of their labels described them, slackers. Yet, as with other generations, their persona was influenced by their environment. Many of the Gen-Xers were children when their mostly early Boomer parents were trying to find themselves or when their mothers were entering the workforce in large percentages (Howe & Strauss, 1993). They were also children, adolescents, and young adults of the 1970s and 1980s (see Table 2 for seminal events). Gen-X’s organizational persona exudes a free agent, “what’s in it for me?” attitude. Gen-Xers sought and moved to the positions and companies that provided opportunities for improvement, challenges, financial rewards, and a work/life balance.

Generation Y/Millennial The generation born between 1982 and 2002 (Howe & Strauss, 2000) has many labels (see Table 2). Its members are considered to be the first global citizens. In addition to their global reach due to technological innovations, they are reported to be the most racially and ethnically diverse generation of all time. Gen-Yers seem to have the best of the last two generations: child-centered upbringing and technology. Surpassing their child-centered upbringing, Boomer parents created the era of the wanted, the protected, the worthy, and the perfected child. Research on the generation reports that Gen-Yers are the most praised, the most coddled, the most shuttled, and the most sheltered, among others (Howe & Strauss, 2000; Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000). Although Gen-Yers experienced an era of the child, many were born into single-mother households. Others experienced the divorce of parents and the joining of families when their parents remarried or re-partnered. Their childhood world has had AIDS, child abductions, and designer drugs. Paul (2001) compiled a list of Gen-Yers’ seminal events (in addition to Table 2): the war in Kosovo, the Oklahoma City bombing, and Clinton/Lewinsky. Co-workers of Gen-Y described Gen-Y as being sheltered, adaptable, innovative, confident, efficient,

skeptical, resilient, and disrespectful. Their organizational behavior includes possessing a sense of entitlement and being high maintenance, yet being productive, team-oriented, and technology savvy (Na’Desh, 2008).

Shifting Values Although Table 2 provides a few of the Gen-Y perceived values, it does not provide a full picture. A small sample of co-workers listed wisdom, privacy, and authority as the least perceived values (Na’Desh, 2008). This represents a dramatic shift from the top values of the Silent generation. If taken further, one could look at the shift from sacrifice (Silent), to personal gratification (Boom), to self-reliance (Gen-X), and finally to independence (Gen-Y). The work persona has changed as well: company loyalty (Silent), pay dues (Boom), free agent (Gen-X), impatient/lack loyalty (Gen-Y).

Implications for Law Enforcement The multigenerational workforce, especially with the influx of Gen-Y, has created implications for organizations as a whole (e.g., management, policies) and for the organizational members. Managers have noticed issues with retention and recruiting, as well as motivation and productivity. Employees have expressed concerns of lack of communication and ineffective work environments as well as resentment – if one generation is favored over another (Na’Desh, 2008). Law enforcement is not immune. Greene (2008) and Harrison (2007) revealed similar implications in this field. However, the added component of public and officer safety increases the potential risks, especially in instances of misunderstanding and lack of communication. Special consideration is also needed when recruiting and training officers who will not only interact with their co-officers, but also with the public (also multi-generational). An additional component, prominent in law enforcement, is the potential for complaints or legal action due to workplace harassment or discrimination (Greene, 2008). For example, informal research in a large municipal agency in Los Angeles revealed “rumors” of young officers, riding as the passenger officer, seen texting while their partner is talking to a citizen instead of watching for safety or criminal violations. The same research revealed potential issues during training, for example, young recruits (mostly GenY) leaving the academy with attitudes and values that are very different from that of their training officers (mostly Boomers). The trainers viewed the

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cadets as “spoiled brats” who did not like to take orders or as kids holding cell phones or video games. The cadets viewed the trainers as fat officers with beer guts holding beer cans and barking orders as if they were their parents. The variance of views in the short term influences the cadets’ training process and their ability to pass the probationary period. However, for the longer term, the variance may imply barriers to not only recruitment and training, but also to cohesive work teams, patrol partnerships, and supervisor/ subordinate relationships. The rumors and the implications for law enforcement are too great to ignore. Greene (2008) painted a picture of an “ineffective organization filled with untapped potential” (page 15) unless action is taken. Harrison (2007) acknowledged the implications and the need for action, stating, “Astute police executives are starting to realize there may be ways to bridge the generation gap for the public good” (paragraph 2).

Communication Across the Generational Divide Since each generation has a unique personality, it is difficult to provide catch-all solutions that will include all generations. However, following are practices of businesses identified as a “best place to work” (e.g., think tanks – see suggestion below). Many of the processes and policies adopted by these organizations will also appeal to not only Gen-Y, but to the talented and creative employees in other generations: • Be open and flexible. • Allow multi-channel communication – different ways of communication (phone, text, and email, as well as oral and written). • Develop and support think tanks or suggestion boxes. • Create avenues for cross-communication. Gen-Y might not value traditions; however, Silents’ process might not be the most efficient. • Develop listening skills. • Understand the reason behind the policies and be able to articulate these reasons when possible (this might be counter to the police force environment, yet it will facilitate the communication process). • Provide training on generational differences. • Explain norms and expectations (especially to Gen-Y employees); do not expect them to decipher the rules.

Conclusion The influx of the latest generation marks what could be a clash between three (or four) generations. Although it might seem easier to wait it out, the conflict and divide could increase to a point of ineffective and inefficient communication between and among the generations. Taking time to understand and even learn from the differences in values and culture is a first step in crossing the generational divide. Gen-Y

is not to be ignored. Just think: Gen-Z will soon be stepping through the doors.

References Alch, M. L. (2000). The echo-boom generation. The Futurist, 34(5), 42-46. Chester, E. (2002). Employing generation Why? Lakewood, CO: Chess Press. Greene, K. (2008, May). Generational conflict: Law enforcement needs mandated multi-generational workforce awareness training. California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Retrieved from http://libcat. post.ca.gov/dbtw-wpd/documents/cc/42-Greene.pdf Harrison, B. (2007). Gamers, Millennials, and Generation Next: Implications for policing. The Police Chief: The Professional Voice of Law Enforcement 74(10). Retrieved from http://policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/ index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=1312&issue_ id=102007 Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (1993). 13th gen: Abort, retry, ignore, fail? New York, NY: Vintage Books. Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials rising: The next great generation. New York, NY: Vintage Books. Huntley, R. (2006). The world according to Y: Inside the new adult generation. Crows Nest, N.S.W, Australia: Allen & Unwin. Martin, C. A., & Tulgan, B. (2006). Managing the generation mix: From urgency to opportunity (2nd ed.). Amherst, MA: HRD Press. Na’Desh, F. (2008). Grown up digital: Gen-Y implications for organizations. Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertation. (AAT 3324655). Paul, P. (2001). Getting inside Gen Y. American Demographics, 23(9), 42-49. Szamosi, L. T. (2006). Just what are tomorrow’s SME employees looking for? Education & Training, 48(8/9), 654-665 Strauss, W., & Howe, N. (1991). Generations: The history of America’s future, 1584 to 2069. New York, NY: Morrow. Timmermann, S. (2007). What a difference a generation makes: How our life experiences shape our viewpoints and behaviors. Journal of Financial Service Professionals, 61(3), 25-28. Zemke, R., Raines, C., & Filipczak, B. (2000). Generations at work: Managing the clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in your workplace. New York NY: AMACOM. Compiled from Strauss & Howe, 1991 and Howe & Strauss, 2000. i

Compiled from Alch, 2000; Howe & Strauss, 1993, 2000; Huntley, 2006; Strauss & Howe 1991; Martin & Tulgan, 2006; Na’Desh, 2008; Paul, 2001; Szamosi, 2006; Timmermann, 2007; and Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000. ii

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100

Women celeBratinG

YearS of

in law enforcement

Thank you for your dedication and service to your community and to our nation. Grantham University is proud to take part in this celebration and support the advancement of women in the field of law enforcement.

“As a former police officer and narcotics detective, I want to personally congratulate you on this historic milestone. If you are thinking about beginning a career in law enforcement or positioning yourself for a promotion, I encourage you to take a look at Grantham University’s Criminal Justice programs.” Tina Freestone, Program Chair Criminal Justice, Grantham University Master’s Graduate, School of Criminal Justice at SUNY - Albany

Take your career to the next level with Grantham University’s 100% online degree programs Flexible, affordable and designed to work with your busy schedule… 33 different degree programs to choose from.

Undergraduate Programs • Criminal Justice • Criminal Justice – Homeland Security • Criminal Justice – Computer Science Certificates of Learning • Emergency Operations Management • Computer Forensic Investigations • Juvenile Justice • Criminal Investigation

ask about our first responder’s Scholarship 800-955-2527 • grantham.edu

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Walmart congratulates every woman who has served and is currently serving as a police officer on the 100th Anniversary of Women in Law Enforcement. Since the appointment of Alice Stebbins Wells, the first female police officer, thousands of women have joined the force and continuously shown selfless acts of heroism. As a company that understands the important role women play in the workforce — 59% of Walmart associates nationwide are women — Walmart applauds the women of law enforcement who have continued to protect the rights of others. Walmart commends all women of law enforcement for their dedication, their leadership, and the daily sacrifices they make to keep our neighborhoods safe for our associates, our customers and our families. Thank you and congratulations!

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