New Chief recommended

By AARON AUPPERLEE BARSTOW — Barstow has moved a step closer to filling its top police position. City Manager Hector Rodriguez selected Lt. Dianne Burns of the Los Angeles Police Department as the top candidate to fill the chief of police position on Thursday evening, according to John Rader, a city spokesman. Rodriguez’s recommendation and Burns’ contract go before the City Council on Monday for approval. If approved, Burns will take over as chief of police on June 18, according to the contract. Burns has more than 20 years experience in law enforcement, Rader said, and holds a bachelor’s degree and a law degree. Her experience and current position with a gang task force in Los Angeles has already won her the support of some colleagues. Det. Andrew Espinoza Jr. said that with 20 years in the LAPD and based on her various assignments, she has a lot of experience managing officers assigned to different tasks and beats. Her work combating gangs in Los Angeles struck Council member Joe Gomez as right for Barstow. “I’m impressed because there are gang members from Los Angeles coming to the area, and she has experience,” Gomez said. “She could start planning some prevention programs.” Gomez said he is going to look to her to improve the gang situation in the city and the morale within the department. He said he will support Rodriguez’s recommendation. Other City Council members said they had not had time to review the materials provided by the city and would make a decision after doing so. If the City Council approves Burns and she passes the required background check and physical exam, she will join a small number of women at the top of police departments across America. Penny Harrington, a former police chief in Portland, Ore., and the former director of the National Center for Women and Policing, said that there are a few more than 100 women police chiefs in the more than 18,000 police departments nationwide. “It is more common in a department the size of Barstow,” she said, “but this is still a rarity.” Woman face an uphill battle through department ranks, Harrington said, and then see a lack of trust from their officers once in command. She said police departments are still dominated by “a militarist culture where they value strength and courage over brains” but that things are starting to change. Studies show that woman do a better job communicating with the community and keeping departments in line, according to Harrington. Cities often hire female police chiefs when the police department is in trouble, she said. “You need someone from the outside with no connections who’s willing to look at the situation,” she said. “And women are more willing to do that.” In trouble or not, the city and Rodriguez worked quickly to get Burns’ appointment before the City Council on Monday, Rader said. Top law enforcement officials from outside of Barstow met with several candidates on Tuesday and Wednesday and narrowed the pool to Burns. Rodriguez then met with Burns and negotiated a contract and by Thursday evening submitted it to City Clerk JoAnne Cousino to be added to the agenda. Burns did not return calls seeking comment on Friday.