Sexism, Racism and Ventura Police

* Re “City Calls Accusations Against Police Chief Candidate Unfounded,” Jan. 23.

As a person quoted in this article, I feel compelled to shed some light on a very important subject that was trivialized and complicated by the issue of whether Mike Tracy should be the next chief of the Ventura Police Department.

Although this appointment is worthy of lengthy discussion, I believe the issue of parity and equity for women and people of color within that department presents a continuing challenge no matter who is assigned the position of top cop.

As in many workplaces in our nation, sexism and racism are often institutionalized, and the Ventura Police Department is no different. Intolerance is so much a part of the workplace it goes unnoticed and treated as the normal operating environment. Often there is no need for articulated conspiracy in these settings. Silence connotes agreement with the status quo and therefore is considered by many to be the most insidious form of intolerance.

In this article, Mr. Tracy is quoted as [saying the department has] “done a lot” to help women and people of color. Although his patronizing remark that we somehow haven’t lived up to expectations and as a result have not been given access to higher rank highlights his total lack of comprehension about such issues, it gives no specifics about his past contribution in this area.

Mr. Tracy has been in a major leadership role at this department for at least the past five years. I know such issues were brought before him and his staff on numerous occasions because I was personally involved in attempting to introduce change. In that time, I was never a witness to any contributions he made in this arena with the exception of rare token placements based more on exigent circumstance than on insightful leadership. Even the token placements of women failed to make inroads into such male-dominated domains as the narcotics division, street gang unit or homicide investigations.

Although there is a noticeable shortage of women officers in the department and a continued lack of women who feel that the environment is accepting of them in leadership roles, the absence of women in even the most significant and powerful divisions points to the basic issue that women officers do not affect the direction and policies of a department greatly in need of diverse opinion. Without this diversity, the Ventura Police Department has no option but to remain mired in an inbred world where its sole direction will be based on the ideas of the single most powerful man and silence on these and other compelling issues will remain the standard of the day.

KIM STEWART

Ventura