Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Woman to Run Sheriff Station Detective Unit : Investigations: Lt. Barbara Persten will follow Lt. Harvey Cantor, who will retire today after nearly 30 years with the department.

Barbara Persten joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department nearly 25 years ago as a secretary hoping to attend law school. But instead of carrying a briefcase, she now jokes about buying a trench coat.

The 43-year-old sheriff’s lieutenant has been named head of the 19-member detective bureau at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. She is the only woman currently supervising a detective bureau at a sheriff’s substation.

Persten replaces Lt. Harvey Cantor, 59, who will retire today after nearly 30 years with the department. Persten, formerly a watch commander at the sheriff’s station, begins her new job Monday.

Persten downplayed her role as the female head of a detective bureau, observing that other women with higher ranks work as detectives at the department’s central headquarters. In addition, at least one other woman has supervised a detective bureau at a sheriff’s station in the past.

“You don’t find it often, but it’s not new,” she said.

Persten said she has worked in jails, on street patrol and as an administrator since becoming a deputy in 1975, but her favorite experience with the department has been 13 years of various detective work.

“It was always more interesting to put those clues together,” she said.

Persten, who lives in the west San Fernando Valley with her husband and 2-year-old daughter, hasn’t given up on the legal profession yet. She hopes to become a judge someday.

Cantor, on the other hand, said he plans to continue his detective work as a private investigator.

The Valencia resident started his career at the old Newhall Sheriff’s Station in 1965 and worked a variety of assignments before returning to Santa Clarita in 1986. He was briefly assigned to the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Station in 1987, returning to the Santa Clarita station a year later. He was named head of the detective bureau in 1989.

Although he is retiring, his badge will remain active. His daughter, Judi, is a deputy at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho in Castaic and has been assigned the badge Cantor wore as a deputy when he joined the department.