SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento’s first female police chief is being sworn in on Thursday morning.
Kathy Lester will be the 46th Chief of the Sacramento Police Department. She was already technically sworn in, in a small ceremony, in front of the city council when she first took the job on January 1.
Thursday marks the official promotional ceremony for the 27-year veteran of the department.
Lester is taking over the job from the city's first African American police chief Daniel Hahn who was in this role for four years, before retiring in December.
At the beginning, she started as a Cordova High School dropout. Her career choices took her from buffet host to custodian and eventually to U.S. Army soldier. She first joined the police force back in 1994 as a dispatcher, before becoming an officer two years later. Most recently, she was the department's Deputy Chief of Operations.
As a member of the force, she’s worked in patrol, traffic, recruiting, internal affairs, criminal intelligence and she served as an executive lieutenant in north patrol command, just to name a few.
As a 27-year veteran of the Sacramento Police Department, Lester was with the department during some of the most tumultuous years in recent history.
"I think that looking back at everything that we have all experienced over the last few years in particular, now it's about coming together and finding a way forward," Chief Lester said.
That's why activists like Berry Accius are holding out hope for better police-community relationships.
"I hope that she's transparent, holds those accountable, and is ready to work with the community," Accius said.
Moving forward, Black Lives Matter organizer Tanya Faison is demanding police accountability under Lester's administration.
"And we need to see those repercussions enacted when an officer does violate them so we know that there's an attempt for accountability," Faison said.
Lester says she has seen improving gender and ethnic diversity numbers in the ranks and looks forward to leading the department into the future.
“We must recognize that reform and policing are not mutually exclusive,” Lester said.
She said she is committed to helping foster a department representative of its community. She's also aiming to increase diversity and is committed to a goal of staffing 30% of the department with women. The national average is 12%.
Her focus will also be directed toward service and professionalism in addition to efforts that would decrease violent crime.
ABC10: Watch, Download, Read
Watch more on ABC10