The Chula Vista Police Department made history on Friday by promoting 17 police officers, the largest in the department’s history, including a record number of women.
A total of five women ascended to a new rank, including the newly promoted Captain Miriam Foxx, the second woman to serve as a captain in Chula Vista. Many promotions were possible by Measure A, a 2018 sales tax increase to hire more public safety staffing or “boots on the ground.”
Police Chief Roxana Kennedy was the first woman to be promoted as captain, and the first to serve as Chula Vista Chief. On Friday, Kennedy promoted a total of nine agents, four sergeants, two lieutenants, and two captains.
Women make up 36 percent of the CVPD workforce, the department wrote in a tweet last month in observance of International Women’s Day. Overall, women make up 13 percent of full-time police officers in the United States, according to Statistica.
Chief Kennedy leads a department of 270 sworn officers, 108.5 civilian employees, and more than a hundred volunteers.
With a population of over 278,000, Chula Vista is the second-largest city in San Diego County, the 15th largest in the state, and the 76th largest in the country. The City of Chula Vista is also the first in the state to have a woman as Mayor, City Manager, and Chief of Police at the same time.
Chula Vista was recently designated the 10th safest city in the United States for jurisdictions with more than 200,000 populations.
