Chief (Ret.) Penny Harrington

In 1985, Penny Harrington became the first woman to serve as chief of a major metropolitan department in the U.S. Almost a century after Marie Owens was hired as the country’s first “police woman,” Penny led the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) after years of fighting to improve working conditions and career opportunities for women in the agency.

Her rise to the top was hard-won. As the face of the movement representing the rights of other women at PPB, she frequently suffered retaliation from fellow officers and supervisors that affected her personally and professionally. Yet even when she was given the most difficult, thankless assignments, Penny was determined to overcome each new challenge, learn from it, and use it to become the best officer possible.

Clips from Chief Harrington’s 2018 interview for the National Institute of Justice’s Research Summit on Women in Policing.

Penny’s commitment to fighting for equality—which led her to protest ill-fitting uniforms and bulletproof vests, height requirements, and discriminatory promotions processes—continued in her tenure as chief and beyond. After serving as chief, she began consulting with other policing agencies, including on a large-scale program to help the LAPD recruit more women based on the recommendation of the Christopher Commission, which was formed following the beating of Rodney King by LAPD officers. As a result of her work with Katherine Spillar, Executive Director of the Feminist Majority Foundation, 40% of LAPD recruits were women for two consecutive police recruit classes.

As Penny described when reflecting on her work with the LAPD, “Why wouldn’t women want a job that pays well, that has a career ladder, that has benefits, that has a pension?” More than anything, improving the recruitment, retention, and representation of women is a matter of political will—as Penny herself said, “It can be done. I’ve seen it done…but somebody has to have the gumption to do it.”

In 1995, Penny and Katherine co-founded the National Center for Women and Policing. The NCWP has helped significantly broaden the research showing the benefits of hiring women officers by carrying out consulting and social science projects. Critically, NCWP also released one of the most comprehensive self-assessments for agencies to recruit and retain women officers in 2000. Unfortunately, much of the guidance in this report is still applicable today, which makes the work of the 30×30 Initiative so necessary, now more than ever.