Department Under the Gun from U.S. : Police Go on Road to Recruit Women Officers

Her prized four-inch fingernail would have to go--as well as the beads threaded through her shoulder-length hair.

But no sacrifice would be too great, said Debbie Thomas, 28, of Lake View Terrace. Thomas was one of about 60 people, mostly women, who attended a Saturday recruiting seminar in Van Nuys designed to get women to join the Los Angeles Police Department.

The department is holding five seminars throughout the city this month to meet the requirements of a 1981 agreement with the federal government that says 25% of police officers hired each year be women. Police administrators entered into the agreement after being sued by an employee and the U.S. Justice Department.

As of November, about 815 officers, or 10.8% of the 7,553-member force, were women, according to Los Angeles police statistics. The hiring requirement is to continue until women make up at least 20% of the police force.

This year, the police force will hire about 750 officers who pass a series of rigorous physical and mental tests, said Sgt. Joseph M. Peyton, who is in charge of recruiting.

Thomas wants to be among them--so much so that she is already making some sacrifices. Instead of sleeping Saturday morning after working the graveyard shift as an inspector in a computer factory, she struggled to stay alert as recruiting officers told the prospective trainees about the benefits--and challenges--of joining Los Angeles’ finest.

Starting pay is about $32,500 a year, and recruits are paid while they train for six months at the Los Angeles Police Academy, said Officer Luis Hernandez, a 12-year veteran. Hernandez said he joined because he was only earning about $10,000 a year as a teacher, “not enough to get me a wife.”

But competition to wear the badge of the third-largest police department in the nation is stiff. Recruits, who must be between 21 and 35 years old and have at least the equivalent of a high school diploma, must first pass a written test. Only 3% of the more than 13,000 people who take the test each year pass, Peyton said.

Women tend to have an easy time passing the written exam, which tests reading comprehension and vocabulary, said Audrey A. Atkins, an outreach testing specialist for the department. On Saturday, 65% of the mostly female group of 38 people who stayed to take the test passed, she said. The department will mail test scores to applicants, such as Thomas, who left right after taking the exam.

It’s the next hurdle--the physical abilities test--that generally stumps women, Atkins said. There’s just something about the prospect of doing 700 sit-ups and 60 push-ups per day while in training that scares them, she said.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep up with the guys in the academy,” said Linda Caro, a 28-year-old poker dealer who came from Rosemead for the seminar. In an effort to reassure her, Officer Maritza Gentry said she had never even jogged before becoming a recruit, but managed to meet the physical challenges through sheer determination.

“It’s finding that rapist or stopping that child molester that makes it all worth it,” Gentry said.

Thomas said she was inspired by Gentry’s example. The officers “told me the braids and fingernails were a no-no,” she said. But “I’d give them up to have a job that’s more than just a job.”