The National Center for Women and Policing’s (NCWP) sixth annual conference, committed to changing the face of law enforcement, is being held April 4-8 in Palm Springs, CA. The conference curriculum will emphasize the imperative for women law enforcement officers to use their vision and influence to increase the number of women in policing at all ranks, and to address the critical law enforcement issues such as domestic violence, sexual assault and police family violence.
This year's conference will join forces with Women in Federal Law Enforcement and is expected to be larger than ever, and is likely to draw 600 of the nation's top women in law enforcement. A featured speaker will be retired Lt. General Claudia Kennedy, formerly the highest ranking woman in the United States Army. The conference will bring together the nation's leading innovators in the field of law enforcement including Law Professor Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of Southern California, Steve Rosenbaum, Chief of the Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, Sheriff Margo Frasier of Travis County, TX, Chief Kay Baldwin, Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Assistant Commissioner Bonni Tischler, U.S. Customs Service, Ida Gillis, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspectors, and Lynda Castro of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The initial barriers preventing women from entering the field of law enforcement are often compounded as women attempt to rise up the ranks. Extensive training sessions and workshops such as “Becoming a Chief: Developing Women Leaders in Federal Law Enforcement,” will offer specific, proven successful tactics for women officers to overcome gender discrimination and move into the highest ranking positions.
“The conference focus will be teaching strategies for women law enforcement officers, who have made it in the door, to take their rightful seats at the decision-making table,” said Penny Harrington, NCWP Director. “Across the country where women are taking charge, they are implementing reforms to deal with some of the most important challenges for law enforcement today. Women law enforcement leaders are successfully recruiting and retaining more women to their agencies, instituting changes to crackdown on police family violence, and improving the ways departments deal with domestic violence and sexual assault investigations.”
Through a challenging leadership development program, participants will explore how women leaders can use research, technology and training to increase the role of women in law enforcement, seek more effective programs to reduce violence and respond to crimes of violence against women, and reduce police violence. The current and worsening crises of police corruption and excessive force scandals nationwide have provided an unprecedented opportunity to promote the significant positive impact greater numbers of women make on the culture, operations and efficiency of law enforcement.
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