Women in uniform
Star reporter Jennifer McLain, who has her own blog "Leftovers From City Hall", turned in an interesting piece about the rising number of female deputies in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Turns out that Temple Station has the highest percentage of female deputies (17 percent); while San Dimas has the lowest (6.3 percent) .
From the story:
"It's acceptable now for women to be in patrol," Harshman said. "When I came in, women in patrol was a new program."
While male and female officers agree that it is more "acceptable" for women to be deputies and commanding officers, the number of female sworn officers within the department is still only 16 percent and females account for only 22 percent of the enrollment in the academy classes.
But that number is constantly increasing, Fennell said. Recently, they increased their goal from 22 percent to 25 percent enrollment in the academy classes.
Some female officers said the consent decree brought unwelcome attitudes as well.
"I would hear comments like, `Oh, you got promoted just because you were a female.' I didn't appreciate that," said Sgt. Debra Hermon, 50. "I got my promotion based on merit."
Hermon, who has been with the department for 27 years, said she has mixed feelings about the consent decree.
"The sheriff's department has been very good to me," Hermon said. "But I'm not sure how I feel about the consent decree. It's like people want you as a female so that you could be a number of a list."