Women Leaders Reflects On A
Decade of Innovative Leadership
Over 750 women and men, of all rank and level gathered in Sacramento
November 1-3, 2015 for the 10th Anniversary of the Women Leaders in
Law Enforcement Training Symposium (WLLE).
The attendees came to learn, be inspired and to
network. This year’s symposium theme, A Decade of
Innovative Leadership, was reemphasized by speakers
such as Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the Chief Justice of California,
Sandra Brown and Kristen Ziman. The high-level
training this year featured presentations on leadership,
critical incident survival, and health and fitness for law
enforcement, as well as other exciting topics.
The idea of bringing women together to exchange ideas,
training, struggles and triumphs began in 1987 in the Bay
Area when two women, Los Gatos Police Captain Alana
Forrest and Menlo Park Police Commander Lacey Burt,
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California Police Chief | www.californiapolicechiefs.org
met in a restaurant with 20 other female law enforcement
professionals to discuss how to help each other in their
profession. In 2006, after several years of small, local
training events, the California Police Chiefs Association
took the event statewide and brought in the State Sheriffs’
Association, the California Peace Officers’ Association and
the California Highway Patrol as co-sponsors. To this day,
WLLE hosts upwards of 800 female and male attendees
each year. WLLE has grown tremendously since 1987, and
this year we were honored to have attendees from states
such as; Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Texas,
Tennessee and Utah.