The Police Athletic League, together with the NYPD and the law enforcement community, supports and inspires New York City youths to realize their full individual potential as productive members of society. Their motto? The best friend a kid can have. And with us tonight is one of those friends. He is Fred Watts, the Executive Director of the Police Athletic League of New York.
Despite overwhelming evidence that female police officers have a positive influence, women make up just 12% of police forces nationwide – a figure that has remained stagnant for the past 20 years. There are a number of reasons for this, including physical fitness tests that some believe are designed to exclude them. Championing the cause for more female police officers is Captain Ivonne Roman from the Newark New Jersey Police Department. She is also the Founder of the Women’s Leadership Academy and an executive board member of the American Society of Evidence-Based Policing.