By Linda Taaffe

Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier

Retiring LA chief blends tough and tender for success

The beginnings of a police career

“People always ask me, ‘What’s a nice girl like you doing in a job like this,’” Carlton said.

Her explanation: She was at the wrong place at the wrong time, twice.

The Bay Area native said the first incident that began to change her life involved a black negligee, a feather boa and a statue of the Madonna.

Carlton and some classmates at Presentation High School, a private Catholic school in San Jose, dressed the school statue in the risqué outfit as a joke, she said. The school principal, or Mother Superior, spotted Carlton near the scene. Knowing she had been caught, Carlton admitted it all.

“We wanted to know what (the Madonna) would have looked like in 1964,” Carlton said. “Mother Superior was not amused. I was pretty much marched out of the high school … I was uninvited back.”

The school superior said she wouldn’t be surprised if Carlton ended up in a home for unwed mothers or in jail.

“That summer, I re-evaluated my life,” said Carlton, who finished her education at San Jose High School.

The second incident that would unwittingly point Carlton toward a career in law enforcement occurred four years later at San Jose State University.

Carlton said she was standing in line with the last group of new students waiting to sign up for classes during the last hour of the last day of registration.

“Every single class I needed was full. I had five minutes to complete registration and I only had 3.5 units. I needed 15 units,” Carlton said.

On her left, classes were still available in physics. On her right, there were still classes open in law enforcement. Carlton made a right turn.

The department head reluctantly registered her for the classes on the promise that she wouldn’t come back to the department the following semester. Carlton said he told her that there were only three women registered, and there was no work for women in law enforcement.

“I handed him my card, and told him, ‘Fill me up. I promise you sir, if you sign my classes, I will use them in my life.’ I wanted to be a civics teacher,” she said.

Carlton walked away registered for beginning investigations, traffic investigations and an introductory class.

“I loved what I was learning,” she said.

The next semester, Carlton talked the department head into letting her into the program.

“If you’re willing to hang in there, you’ll need tough skin and broad shoulders,” he told her.

Carlton earned a bachelor’s degree in administration of criminal justice. She later completed graduate work in public administration at California State University, Hayward.

Carlton landed her first job with the Milpitas Police Department on Sept. 15, 1969. She beat out 400 competitors for the department’s only job open to women officers.

A pioneer

Carlton knew she had launched her career during a time when there were virtually no police jobs for women. She wasn’t as prepared for what she would have to endure once in the field - a sexist boss, being passed over for promotions and earning half the salary of her male colleagues.

Carlton said the first day on the job, her Milpitas police chief told her she was a “darn good-looking woman … a lot of men here will want to date you … That’s OK, I will be the first.”

Carlton said she kept quiet.

“I knew if I had said something, they wouldn’t hire another female,” she said. “If I was going to be a pioneer, I would have to grin and bear it.”

Carlton started with a desk job. She later moved to the fraud and sexual assault division, filing criminal complaints. She hit the streets in 1972. Declassification opened up patrol duty to women two years later in 1974.

Since Carlton was the first on patrol, she had to make a uniform. There was no such thing as a woman’s patrol uniform.

On the street, Carlton quickly learned that sharp verbal skills, rather than physical force, were key in getting suspects to cooperate. This technique, known in the field as “verbal judo,” is widely used today.

Carlton climbed another step higher in 1981. Carlton, who as a woman had not been allowed to attend police academy training, became the academy’s first female training officer. She was promoted to sergeant in 1985 and began teaching sexual assault, mostly to men.

A few years later, Carlton skipped the lieutenant position and filled the higher-ranking captain’s position.

Carlton said she had been passed over so many times for promotions, she decided to take the captain’s test when the position opened. She ranked No. 1 on the test. This promotion created much hostility and discontent in Milpitas, she said.

Carlton wasn’t to remain in Milpitas much longer. Two years later, a headhunter from Los Altos approached Carlton, asking her to become Police Chief in Los Altos.

Los Altos

A casual bet between two police chiefs to see who would be the first to put a woman officer on patrol may have opened the door for Los Altos Police Chief Lucy Carlton, but her perseverance and proven competence are what led her to become a pioneer, opening the doors for other women in what was once considered a “man’s profession.”

Carlton was the first woman to work patrol in 1972 while at the Milpitas Police Department. Carlton became the second woman in California to serve as a police chief in 1991 when she came to Los Altos. She has helped establish numerous county and state protocols, including the state guidelines for the implementation of Meagan’s Law, which made public the names of local sex offenders. Former State Assemblywoman Delaine Eastin named Carlton “State Woman of the Year” in 1990.

In Los Altos, Carlton was responsible for bringing a motorcycle unit and K-9 team to the department. During tough times with lean city budgets, Carlton sold the Los Altos City Council on the need to fund laptop computers for the squad cars. Los Altos became the first of 13 law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County with patrol car laptops able to send as well as receive data. When it appeared that the city would have to contract out for services last year, Carlton was able to rebuild the dwindling department in a matter of months. All 33 police positions are currently filled.

“There’s a range of things I could say about Lucy. She’s an incredible trailblazer and extraordinary role model for all types of people,” said Los Altos Assistant City Manager Starla Jerome-Robinson, who has worked with Carlton for 20 years both in Milpitas and Los Altos. “We’ve not always been on the same side of issues over the years, but I’ve learned to respect her opinions.

“She’s the most gracious person I’ve ever met, but there’s no doubt that she will always be a police chief. That’s a very powerful combination.”

Carlton will retire Sept. 14, on the eve of her 32nd anniversary in law enforcement. Her longtime colleague Don Johnson will succeed her. He will be sworn in Sept.19.

“She will be a tough act to follow,” said Johnson, who started working with Carlton 12 years ago while serving on a domestic violence county board and later in the training academy at San Jose State. Carlton is currently working with Johnson during his transition to Los Altos police chief.

Johnson attributed Carlton’s success to her all around competence, talent for eloquent speaking and her giving personality.

“She gives people opportunities … treats them like they matter. She seems more happy about my promotion than her retirement. She could have just walked off,” he added.

Carlton came to Los Altos in 1991 to oversee about 30 officers and a department with a budget of about $4 million.

“When I got here, I just felt like I belonged,” Carlton said. “It goes without saying, these have been the best 10 years of my life. I could not have written a script any better.”

Under her leadership, the Los Altos Police Department implemented community-oriented police tactics and has one of the quickest response times on the Peninsula.

Her influence didn’t stop in Los Altos. She was chairwoman of the Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Council.

The council changed the way domestic violence is handled throughout the county. There is now a county-wide protocol regarding a pro-arrest policy, getting emergency protective orders and a central registry for filing restraining orders. Just getting 13 different law enforcement agencies to agree to these protocols speaks volumes of Carlton’s skill in building consensus.

She is the past chairwoman of the Santa Clara County Police Chiefs Association and the Administration of Justice foundation at San Jose State University. She has served on the board of the California peace Officers’ Association and the California Police Chiefs’ Association.

She helped establish training guidelines for officers in the area of sexual assault and child abuse investigations.

She has mentored dozens of men and women and assisted in the development of a series of classes for both men and women on Women’s Issues in law enforcement.

She holds a lifetime Teaching Credential from the state of California.

“She has been a role model for many of us, and through her efforts, she has made it easier for us,” said Los Altos Councilwoman Kris Casto. “I have been delighted for the past six year just to serve alongside Lucy Carlton.”