What does the fight for gender equality within the American police force look like today? We talk to two experts about current strategies for police reform. Run, Bambi, Run is an Apple Original podcast, produced by Campside Media. Listen and follow on Apple Podcasts. https://apple.co/RunBambiRun
Hello, it's Vanessa Gregoriatis, and this is the last episode of Run Bambi run an Apple original podcast produced by Campsite Media.
This is a special episode about women and policing.
So, 40 years ago, back when Laurie Bambinik was a cop, women made up only 5% of police officers nationwide.
Today, that number is around 12%.
And a lot of time has passed, so there hasn't been a huge amount of progress.
Some people want to increase that number, and some don't.
But it's not because they don't believe in gender equality.
They just don't believe that gender equality on the force will actually create much progress in policing.
In this episode, I'll talk to two experts with two different opinions on this topic.
Our first guest leads an initiative that's about increasing the number of women in police departments.
She wants to change police culture that way.
I'm Maureen McGough.
I'm the chief of staff at the policing project at NYU law.
How long have you had your focus on gender equity within the police forces, and why did you decide to do that?
I've only focused on the space since 2018.
And at the time, I was a senior policy advisor at the US Department of Justice.
I was working with a captain from Newark, police department captain Yvonne Roman.
She came to me one day, and she pointed out, the DOJ says it's really committed to doing things that are grounded in data and evidence.
But women make up 12% of sworn law enforcement officers and only 3% of police leaders.
So she came to me was really blunt about it.