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Laura Lorman has been named chief of the West Valley-Mission Community College District Police Department.

West Valley chooses local woman as chief of police

By Sarah Lombardo

Eighteen years after becoming the West Valley-Mission Community College District's first full-time female police officer, Sunnyvale's Laura Lee Lorman has been named the district's first female police chief.

The appointment, made earlier this year and celebrated at a reception for Lorman at the West Valley campus, makes her one of only two women to head police departments in Santa Clara County. The other is Los Altos Police Chief Lucy Carlton.

"She is a proven leader in the work she does for the college," said Carlton, who has known Lorman for many years. "I think she will bring to the college the needed leadership and guidance for the changing demographics and the issues that will be coming up."

As chief, Lorman, 45, will oversee public safety at both of the district's two campuses, West Valley in Saratoga and Mission in Santa Clara, which have a combined population of 25,000. Lorman will head a staff of seven officers and six campus service officers.

The Sunnyvale native has been acting chief for the district since 1996, when predecessor Chief Stoney Brook retired. She said that although she is one of only two female officers at Saratoga's West Valley College currently, she believes community colleges have long led the way to fairer opportunities for women in the field.

"College campuses have always been way ahead of the curve," she said.

Lorman said colleges and universities have also traditionally led the way in community policing, a trend now sweeping city police departments.

"This is community-oriented policing. Cities think they invented it," she said. "[But] colleges and universities have been doing community-based policing for years. I would say [city departments] can learn something from the college police department."

Lorman said she and her officers have always encouraged students to talk with them about problems or suspicions. She added that many students ask the district's officers for advice even on which instructor to select for a class.

"They'll come up and ask an officer what they've heard about this or that teacher," she said. "In the time that we have been here, we have always been very connected with the community."

But, Lorman said, that's not to say some things can't be made better.

"Improvements can be made, and I hope to do that," she said.

Lorman said she not only wants to increase the distribution of crime prevention and statistics information, but also wants to enhance the department's connection with the students and to work on getting officers more involved with campus projects and committees.

Lorman herself is on the board of the California Association of Minorities in Law Enforcement, is a past president and current member of the California Women Peace Officer's Association and is on a subcommittee for the Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Council, which Carlton serves as chairwoman.

According to Carlton, Lorman acts as the council's liaison to the college district and has done a commendable job at passing on what she learns through the council.

"She really has been able to bring back to the community colleges all the protocol and training that we discuss on the council," she said. "She truly takes an active role in the community."

But even without the memberships, the department keeps her plenty busy.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, October 15, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.