| | John,
As we step into 2021, the Law Enforcement Action Partnership is embarking on a critical year. The months ahead will determine the future of policing. Our communities' call for real change in policing has not gone unheard. We can’t settle for more of the same, and we can’t accept minor concessions or empty rhetoric in place of real, systemic change.
The system has to change from within before its shift can be felt externally. One key factor that has the ability to change policing for the better? Women in leadership roles.
LEAP’s own internal transition officially begins January 1, when Lieutenant Diane Goldstein (Ret.) takes the helm as our next executive director. Lt. Goldstein retired as the first female lieutenant after 21 years with the Redondo Beach (CA) Police Department, and she is deeply committed to leading with empathy – something sorely needed as we navigate the fraught relationship between police and their communities, at the end of a very difficult year.
Also quoted below on how women can lead the culture change in policing is LEAP Executive Board Member Captain Sonia Pruitt (Ret.), a 28-year veteran of the Montgomery County (MD) Police Department, where she was the first Black woman to achieve the rank of captain in the department’s 97-year history.
These women are ethical, kind, courageous, and wise – they represent all that policing can and should be. LEAP is in good hands…
In solidarity,
The LEAP Staff |
| | Women are dramatically underrepresented in American policing: we make up less than 13% of all law enforcement officers, and significantly lower in leadership roles. Equity matters: when certain segments of the population aren’t represented, trust in law enforcement suffers.
We need to ensure that we are prioritizing and valuing diversity in policing. |
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| This is not to “check the box” with no real commitment to a diverse workforce, as it is crucial for a successful policing model to have different perspectives and life experiences reflected in police decision-making. Our communities expect equal representation within police departments: it helps in understanding the community's needs, and allows police to approach our mission from a place of empathy, partnership, and willingness to learn. Women of color play a particularly significant role in policing, as communities of color are disproportionately targeted by police, and the roles that these women play in their communities as mothers, sisters, and daughters can be a conduit in bridging the ever-widening gap between police and their communities. By building a diverse workforce, we’re making both our departments and our communities stronger. |
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| Studies have shown that women in policing are less likely to engage in police misconduct or incur use-of-force and citizens' complaints versus their male colleagues, improving police-community interaction and building trust. When women are leaders in our police departments, we are empowered to influence the culture in a positive way, and that creates a ripple effect that makes its way back to our communities. |
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| It is important to ensure women are represented in all ranks: women should be involved in guiding departmental decisions and setting the tone for ethical policing, as well as being an integral part of creating that culture shift we know policing needs. Women as role models make a path for women to choose policing as a career who may not have considered it because they did not see themselves represented. Women in police leadership are the catalyst for systemic change, and that change will create more opportunities for women in policing; help our departments grow internally and externally; and build stronger bonds with our communities. |
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| 2020 has emphasized that our current system of policing is not working. We have belabored these issues for far too long, and now is the time to make sure what we build from here takes us to a place of trust, integrity, and community wellbeing. We owe it to ourselves and our communities to work in sincere partnership, and women in police leadership are in a position to guide the profession in the direction of more community-focused policing. We are examining and addressing issues that have undermined the integrity of the profession for far too long. Impactful change occurs when police departments build a diverse workforce, thereby engendering trust and respect, building legitimacy, and creating lasting, positive community partnerships. |
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| Law Enforcement Action Partnership
121 Mystic Avenue, Suite 9 | Medford, Massachusetts 02155
[email protected] I 781-393-6985 |
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