SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Police Department is stepping up their efforts to recruit more female officers. City leaders gathered Monday with Chief Nisleit in order to promote an upcoming SDPD Career Expo just for women.
“You know there is a saying that ‘if you haven’t seen it, you can’t be it,’” said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, who wants women to know that they have a place at the San Diego Police Department.
“While we are making some tremendous advances, this department and our city as a whole still are not reflective of the diversity of our city, at least not yet,” said Gloria.
Out of 1,928 total police officers at SDPD, 320 are female, which is nearly 17%. While this is above the national average of 13%, they hope to attract more female candidates to put through the police academy.
“Come out and see what the expo is about. You might be looking at yourself and you might be saying, ya know I’m on the fence but come out and hear more about it, and I encourage you to apply,” said SDPD Chief David Nisleit.
“I would strongly recommend this career,” said SDPD Detective Sharon Yoon. “It’s very rewarding especially for people who have a heart to help other people to make a direct impact on the community.”
Detective Sharon Yoon has 14 years of experience in law enforcement. She started her career with the Hawaii County Police Department.
“It was predominantly male,” said Detective Yoon. “I think there was one other female at the time. And so it was a little intimidating at first, but I overcame that barrier and mentally I had to tell myself that hey I’m just as good as they are, and that I can do the job.”
She then joined SDPD nine years ago, and has been able to find balance in being a spouse, a mother of three kids, and a police officer.
“I know there are other women in the department like me who play the role of being a mother while being a police officer or sergeant or a detective, and they’re still able to have very successful careers,” said Detective Yoon.
She has this to say about how rewarding her police career has been.
“A lot of times people call law enforcement because they need help or they need advice, and so it’s rewarding knowing that hey I responded to this call or I helped this person,” said Detective Yoon.
The women’s career expo for SDPD will be held on Saturday, August 21, 8:00 – noon, at the police plaza on Murphy Canyon Road. You can pre-register at JOINSDPDNOW.COM.
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