Officer adds to list of firsts

By Brian Wargo (contact)

Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005 | 9:11 a.m.

Twenty-two years after she became Henderson's first female police officer, Jutta Chambers tonight will become one of the highest-ranking female police officers in Nevada when she is sworn in as deputy chief.

Henderson Police Chief Alan Kerstein named Chambers to the role as part of a reorganization that increases his command staff from two to three deputy chiefs. Chambers will be sworn in during tonight's City Council meeting.

With her promotion, Chambers, who was named captain in 2001, becomes the highest-ranking female officer in the Las Vegas Valley. One of the highest-ranking female officers for Metro Police, Capt. Terry Lesney, once served in that department as a deputy chief, the No. 3 position. And Gwendolyn Pasco, who is retired, previously served as deputy chief, which at that time was the department's fourth-highest post.

"I think her leadership will help move the organization to a new direction," Henderson Human Resources Director Daryl Moore said. "It will be viewed as a positive for all of the state of Nevada that we are moving forward in our public safety and police areas."

Diane Nicholson, Washoe County's undersheriff, is considered the highest-ranking female officer in Nevada, said Ron Dreher, the government affairs director of the Nevada Peace Officers Research Association.

Dreher said the state is getting closer to one day having a woman lead a sheriff's office or a police department.

"For a long time it has been male-dominated, but that's changing," Dreher said. "I think the more diversity we have in this day and age helps recruit female officers."

Of Henderson's 322 police and correctional officers, 42 -- 13 percent -- are women. North Las Vegas has 356 police and correction officers, 59, or 16.5 percent, of whom are women. And 12 percent of Metro's 2,694 law enforcement positions are filled by women, including 184 police officers and 145 corrections officers.

Prior to joining Henderson in 1983, Chambers served four years in the Air Force as a K-9 handler, city officials said. She has worked in Henderson as a patrol officer, field training officer, K-9 officer and undercover narcotics detective.

Brian Wargo can be reached at 259-4011 or at wargo@lasvegassun.com.