This fall, 250 women leaders in policTing and law enforcement will gather at a Washington, DC conference to launch an unprecedented two-year leadership development program for women in policing.
Sponsored by the Feminist Majority Foundation's National Center for Women and Policing, the leadership program aims to create a national plan of action to increase the numbers of women in policing across the country.
The November conference will be the kick-off for a two-year Policing in the 2]st Century: )he Emerging Role of Women program for women police commanders and civilian women in law enforcement management. Educational and brainstorming sessions at the conference will include recognizing and removing obstacles to women in police agencies; creating public policy initiatives to increase women in policing; community initiatives to stop violence against women; and alternatives to incarceration.
Following the conference the women police leaders will convene Town Hall meetings in their own communities.
"These Town Hall meetings - led by women police officials -'may be the first time that communities across the nation hear about the value of hiring large numbers of women police officers," said Penny Harrington, Director of the National Center for Women and Policing and retired Portland, Oregon police chief.
Additional conferences will be held in the fall of 1996 and the summer of 1997.
The National Center for Women and Policing is the only nationwide resource working to increase the number of women police officers, raise community awareness about the benefits women bring to policing, and improve police response to the epidemic of family violence.
Feminist Majority Foundation research has shown that women police officers in general have fewer incidents of police brutality, handle domestic violence cases more effectively, and defuse violent situations with greater success than men police officers. However, women still comprise only 8% of all police officers nationwide.
For more information about the conference or the National Center for Women and Policing, please call (213) 651-0495.