SUN VALLEY : LAPD Hosts Expo to Recruit Women

As part of its drive to recruit female officers, the Los Angeles Police Department will host a Community Expo on Saturday in Sun Valley.

“Our goal is to reach the gender balance we are seeking in our community,” said Officer Leticia Dotson at a news conference Wednesday. “We are seeking qualified women. It’s a major task ahead of us.”

Dotson said she joined the force nine years ago, after listening to her husband describe the Police Academy.

“I thought, ‘Gosh, I can do that,’ ” she recalled. “I took care of the kids, cleaned the house and joined the LAPD.”

The City Council last April approved a resolution setting a goal of 43.4% women in the police force. There are now 1,274 female officers, about 16% of the department.

To meet the council’s goal, city officials estimate they will have to find 9,000 applicants to fill 400 slots for female officers.

“There has never really been a better time than now for women in the LAPD,” said City Councilman Joel Wachs, citing the 1991 Christopher Commission report that found women officers are less prone to violence and more compassionate to women crime victims.

But the LAPD has not always been kind to women on the force, according to a 1993 study authored by the Women’s Advisory Council to the Police Commission, which complained that the department had “a culture of gender bias.” Sexual harassment of female officers and a refusal to respect female victims of crime were common complaints, the report said.

Since the report was issued, however, some members of the advisory council have applauded actions the department has taken to increase the number of women officers.

Officer Cassandra Nickerson said that despite the male camaraderie she sees in the department, her five-year career on the force has been a positive experience.

“Women just have to build their self-esteem,” she said. “When we’re in the academy, we become a team--men and women.”

At the Community Expo, a panel of women officers from the North Hollywood area is slated to talk about their careers.

Those in attendance who want to apply for positions with the department will be given a 45-minute, multiple-choice reading-and-comprehension test and a 30-minute essay test. Those who pass the tests will receive an appointment for an interview.

The Community Expo is scheduled for 8:30 Saturday morning at Polytechnic High School, 12431 Roscoe Blvd., Sun Valley. For more information, call (213) 847-LAPD.