San Francisco’s First Female Sheriff

A change is coming to the city of San Francisco. The efforts from the slow and steady progress of female representation in America are beginning to show, as the San Francisco Police Department swore in their new sheriff, the first woman to ever be a sheriff in San Francisco.

Newly elected Sheriff Vicki Hennessey was sworn in at San Francisco City Hall the morning of January 8th, after winning her election on November 5th of last year.  She is the city’s 35th sheriff and the first woman to hold the office.

Hennessey who was recently sworn into office by the first female mayor of San Francisco, former San Francisco Mayor Diane Feinstein, was born and raised in San Francisco and joined the sheriff’s department in 1975. She was a member of the sheriff’s department’s executive management team for 25 years and has served in every division of the department.

Hennessey also served as the city’s interim sheriff in 2012. Mayor Ed Lee appointed her after he suspended Sheriff Mirkarimi on official misconduct charges as a result of domestic violence allegations.

Mirkarimi later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment and was sentenced to probation. He was reinstated as sheriff in October 2012 when the 11-member Board of Supervisors did not reach the nine votes necessary under the City Charter to remove him from office.

But Mirkarimi failed to win reelection in November when he ran against Hennessy, in the 35th election for the office of the San Francisco Sheriff, which resulted in the city’s first female sheriff.

Policewomen have made progress over the years, but slow growth, with the first female Sheriff in the City of San Francisco, we can finally see the step forward to equality.