Standout
among
chiefs
Susan Manheimer continues
to blaze trails for women
law enforcement leaders
Susan Manheimer recalls looking at the portraits
on the wall of the numerous police chiefs who
preceded her as top cop of the San Mateo Police
Department when she was named to the post in
May 2000.
Her smiling picture, in bright color, stood out from
the black-and-white portraits of sober-faced male
ex-police chiefs.
Someone suggested that a nameplate below her
picture be put up to read, “The First Female Police
Chief in the History of San Mateo.”
Manheimer thought about it for a second. “Um,”
she said. “I don’t think that’s really necessary.
It’s pretty obvious!” Throughout her entire law
enforcement career, Manheimer has been very
obvious —- as in a standout, from her early days
pounding the pavement in some of the seediest
sections of San Francisco to blazing a trail for other
female officers through her leadership roles at Cal
Chiefs.
Manheimer’s 18-month term as president of the
California Police Chiefs Association ended last
in March of 2011 but she continues to be a wellrespected voice in law enforcement throughout the
state.
In the 12 years since she became top cop of San
Mateo, the number of female police chiefs in the
state has grown to 21, up from only four in 2000.
Those numbers, as a percentage of total chiefs,
are above national averages, but there’s still plenty
of room for more females to rise to the top of the
state’s police agencies, says Manheimer.
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For now, Manheimer, 56, is thrilled with the
progress women have made in California law
enforcement.
“I advise all females to embrace a ‘can do’ attitude,
as in ‘Can you back up your partner?’ or ‘Can you
protect the community?’” Manheimer says. “They
have to have an ‘I’ll show you, I can do it!’ attitude.
They have to be great if they want to succeed.”
Fewer than 2 percent of San Mateo PD officers were
female when Manheimer was recruited as chief after
a 16-year career with the San Francisco PD that
included walking a foot beat in the tough Mission
District as a police decoy (she was robbed 25 times)
and taking down drug lords in sting operations.
Now, 14 percent of San Mateo’s 120 sworn officers
who patrol the city of 100,000 are female, and
the department is much more ethnically diverse,
says Manheimer, whose impetus to get into law
enforcement came when she was 27 and was
robbed in the company of her daughter, then
2 years old, in the Panhandle area near San
Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Now, 28 years
later, she’s still passionate about policing and
the role cops play in protecting and serving their
communities.
Manheimer was recruited to leadership roles in the
CPCA by Fremont Police Chief Craig Steckler, who
she calls a key mentor. She joined the board of Cal
Chiefs in 2002 and served as third vice president in
2007 before being named president in March 2010.
Cal Chiefs has played a vital role in developing
female officers and law enforcement leaders
mainly through its annual Women Leaders in Law
Enforcement Training Symposium, says Manheimer.
“The symposium has jump-started women who
are looking for potential leadership positions,”
Manheimer says. “Women tend to put their heads
down and do their jobs and are not as focused as
much on their career track. We help push women to
step up to the next level.”
Females bring different skill sets to the job of
policing, Manheimer says, including a tendency to
be mediators. She recalls responding to domestic
violence calls and wild family fights and using a
calming tone that helped defuse potentially volatile
situations.
“You absolutely have to be able to handle yourself
and take a suspect down when required, but female
police officers tend to bring to the job our natural
ability to disarm, engage and relate to a diverse
group of people,” Manheimer says.
Changes in policing, such as an emphasis on
proactively forging ties with the community, make
it vital for more women to get into law enforcement
and develop into leaders, according to Manheimer.
“There are more shades of gray to police work now,
such as dealing with non-criminals including the
mentally ill and the homeless and juveniles, where
a more creative and collaborative social-workertype approach as a cop is needed,” she says.
Manheimer, who grew up in the Bronx, is a
governor’s appointee to the State Advisory Group for
Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Crime Prevention
and serves on the San Mateo County Community
Corrections Panel, and the USF Law Enforcement
Leadership Board.
She has a son, Jesse, a first lieutenant in the Marines
who currently is stationed in Afghanistan, and a
daughter, Sarah, 31, a former prosecutor who now
defends law enforcement personnel. Her husband,
Michael, is an accountant.
“An accountant and a cop,” Manheimer says with a
laugh. “We have all the bases covered in our family.
Seriously, though, the support of my family, my city
and my department has been critical to my success
— no great things are ever accomplished without
the help and support of others.” •
“You absolutely have to be able to handle yourself and take a suspect down
when required, but female police officers tend to bring to the job our natural
ability to disarm, engage and relate to a diverse group of people”
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