The department of criminal justice and criminology at Georgia State University in Atlanta is bringing together the university’s women leadership community with members of metro Atlanta’s highly respected female command staff to launch the state’s first Leadership Academy for Women in Law Enforcement (LAWLE).
The four-day LAWLE program will address the top challenges women leaders in law enforcement face while providing tools to develop and enhance their leadership skills in courses on strategic career planning, inclusive leadership styles, confronting gender discrimination and workplace harassment, bridging communication gaps, and women supporting women. Participants will leave with an individualized career plan outlining specific goals and the tools needed to reach them.
Captain Aprille Moore, unit commander for community engagement at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and a Georgia State University graduate, will lead the strategic career planning session of LAWLE. “It’s helpful to have training and conversations with women who lead,” she said. “The things we’ve experienced are different than our male counterparts. From uniforms to training, marriage to motherhood, trying to manage these roles as a woman in this workspace is difficult. Talking to women who’ve paved the way can give you information that will help you avoid some of the same pitfalls.”
“Women make up only 12 percent of sworn officers and 3 percent of police leadership in the U.S.,” said Dean Dabney, the executive director of the Leadership Development Institute of Georgia at the university. “It’s tough to promote women into leadership because there aren’t enough women in the force. It’s like a pyramid. You need to grow your base to expand the number of leaders at the top.”