Blazing a path to encourage women to pursue a career in law enforcement, the San Francisco Sheriff's Office for the second straight year is hosting its annual Women's Leadership Conference.
The conference isn’t open to the public, but the public is certainly impacted by how the sheriff’s office is reaching its goals of increasing the number of its female deputies to 30% by 2030.
The agency has 96 females, accounting for 13.3% of its sworn staff. The goal is to more than double that in six years.
There are 200 vacancies in the office.
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Assistant Sheriff Tanzanika Carter says recent research shows the positive impact female deputies bring to law enforcement, including they use less force and less excessive force; they are named in fewer complaints and lawsuits; they see better outcomes for crime victims, especially in sexual assault cases.
"It’s important that we have more females in our department so that victims of those heinous crimes have a person who looks like them, who represents them, who they feel more comfortable with, can come forward and share their stories," Carter said.
The Women’s Leadership Conference kicks off Thursday morning with 21 distinguished women from different law enforcement agencies across the Bay Area taking center stage to inspire the next generation of leaders in law enforcement.
