THE WOMEN IN BLUE

State and federal anti-discrimination laws are the only codes governing the hiring of women as law enforcement officers. Individual departments can require a skills test, but the skills tested must be relevant to the particular job, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

The chart below shows the number of law enforcement officers in Orange County. The Westminster office of the California Highway Patrol has the highest percentage of female sworn officers, the Laguna Beach Police Department the highest percentage of women who rank sergeant or above. The La Habra Police Department has the lowest percentage of women in the sworn ranks. Many of the departments have no women officers ranking sergeant or above.

Number * Number Number Sworn Officers Women Number of Officers Ranked Ranked Sworn Who Are Sergeant Sergeant Department Officers Women % or Above or Above California Highway Patrol 72 15 20.8 8 1 Westminster Office Laguna Beach 46 7 15.2 12 3 Orange County 1,009 135 13.4 175 10 Sheriff’s Department California Highway Patrol 67 8 11.9 9 0 Capistrano Office Seal Beach 38 4 10.5 11 0 Fountain Valley 61 6 9.8 17 0 San Clemente 46 4 8.7 10 1 Placentia 52 4 7.7 14 0 Tustin 65 5 7.7 17 1 Fullerton 145 11 7.6 33 0 Cypress 53 4 7.5 14 1 Brea 83 6 7.2 19 0 Anaheim 323 18 7.0 63 1 Irvine 123 8 6.5 28 0 Garden Grove 158 8 5.1 36 0 Costa Mesa 141 7 5.0 36 0 Westminster 86 4 4.7 22 0 Orange 140 6 4.3 28 0 La Palma 24 1 4.2 8 0 Santa Ana 366 15 4.1 74 0 Newport Beach 154 6 3.9 34 0 Los Alamitos 26 1 3.8 10 0 Huntington Beach 213 6 2.8 44 0 Buena Park 88 2 2.3 22 0 La Habra 53 1 1.9 14 0 COUNTY TOTALS 3,632 292 8.0 758 18

Department % California Highway Patrol 12.5 Westminster Office Laguna Beach 25.0 Orange County 5.7 Sheriff’s Department California Highway Patrol 0 Capistrano Office Seal Beach 0 Fountain Valley 0 San Clemente 10.0 Placentia 0 Tustin 5.9 Fullerton 0 Cypress 7.1 Brea 0 Anaheim 1.6 Irvine 0 Garden Grove 0 Costa Mesa 0 Westminster 0 Orange 0 La Palma 0 Santa Ana 0 Newport Beach 0 Los Alamitos 0 Huntington Beach 0 Buena Park 0 La Habra 0 COUNTY TOTALS 2.4

* The ranks above sergeant in the police departments and the California Highway Patrol are lieutenant, captain, deputy chief and chief. In the sheriff’s department, they are lieutenant, captain, assistant sheriff, undersheriff and sheriff. Note: Information for the California Highway Patrol’s Santa Ana office was unavailable.

Source: Individual departments and the Orange County Affirmative Action Office

A STATEWIDE COMPARISON

Number of Number of Sworn Department Sworn Officers Officers Who Are Women % Police Departments 30,642 2,100 6.9 Sheriff’s Departments 16,950 1,837 10.8 California Highway Patrol 5,490 352 6.4

Source: State Attorney General’s Office, 1987 figures