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First Woman Named Chief of U.S. Park Police

Teresa C. Chambers, former chief of police in Durham, NC and a top-ranking officer in Maryland’s Prince George’s County Police Department, has been named the first female police chief of the U.S. Park Police. Secretary of Interior Gale Norton, who was present at the swearing-in ceremony, said “the time has come” for a woman to be in this position. According to the National Center for Women & Policing’s 2000 Annual Survey on the Status of Women in Policing, women hold only 7.3 % of Top Command law enforcement positions across the country and women of color hold only 1.7 % of those positions. While the representation of women in sworn law enforcement has increased from 9% in 1990 to 13% in 2000, the under-representation is striking, given that women make up 46.5% of the adult labor force.

For information on the National Center for Women & Policing’s 7th Annual Leadership Conference, visit www.womenandpolicing.org.

Sources:

Washington Post, 2/15/02; National Center for Women & Policing, a division of the Feminist Majority Foundation

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