|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Jessica Nowaski, a pillar in the Mountain View Police Department and one of the few women to rise through the agency’s ranks as both captain and deputy chief, will be retiring at the end of December.
Police officials announced her retirement Tuesday, calling Nowaski a trailblazer and a mentor in the department over the course of two decades. Her myriad roles at the department range from detective and crisis negotiator to regional crime-fighting efforts to crack down on vehicle thefts.
Nowaski also spent much of her career trying to find ways to boost female representation in law enforcement, arguing a more gender-balanced department can add new perspectives and better meet the needs of the community. As it stands, 89% of the department’s sworn personnel are men, roughly on par with national standards.
“The one thing that I am spending most of my time reflecting on is whether I did enough to support women in law enforcement,” Nowaski said. “As I’m retiring, women are pointing out that I’m the only female of rank. Things have changed over time, but they haven’t changed enough.”
Nowaski began her law enforcement career at the Mountain View Police Department in 1995, leaving briefly for an 11-month stint in the Santa Rosa Police Department before returning to Mountain View in 2001. She said there wasn’t anything wrong with Santa Rosa, but that Mountain View was a “better fit” in terms of the culture and community.
As an officer, Nowaski handled some of the most difficult cases facing the department, including child abuse and sexual assault incidents that she called “difficult work” and something that would’ve been hard to handle after she had children of her own. She said one of her most memorable cases was the 2003 murder of Mountain View resident Doris Condon, in which two men broke into the 77-year-old woman’s home and beat her into a coma.
Another noteworthy case was a 2004 sexual assault in a Mountain View motel, which Nowaski worked on as a detective for years. She said they had a good DNA sample and were relentless in trying to track down a suspect, all while staying in touch with the victim. It took 16 years, but the payoff finally came in February last year when the DNA matched a man living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was arrested and later pleaded guilty.
Later, Nowaski would go on to serve on Santa Clara County’s Regional Auto Theft Task Force, a multiagency effort to curb auto thefts and crimes associated with stolen vehicles. Nowaski said the organization had a reputation for being overtly San Jose-focused and having “cowboys” who didn’t necessarily follow the rules.
It’s true that Nowaski was the first commander not from San Jose to serve on the task force, and she remains the only woman who has served on the interjurisdictional agency. But at the same time she said it was humbling to work with such “amazing detectives and sergeants” on the troubling rise in auto thefts. While some of the thefts were simply joy rides, often these vehicles were being stolen to carry out more serious crimes, making it all the more important to get the problem under control.
“It’s not like these suspects or criminals stayed in their lane,” she said. “You would see a lot of violent crime intertwined within the auto theft community.”
Working in a largely male-dominated career and advancing through the ranks had its fair share of challenges, Nowaski said. As a young officer, she recalled running into men who thought they could get away with talking to her in an “incredibly inappropriate way.” When she was awarded the rank of sergeant, and later lieutenant, she had to deal with quips that she didn’t earn the titles and that she amounted to a token female in the department.
Nowaski said she grew up in the East Bay and had the grit she needed to handle the adversity, but it nevertheless behooves both male and female sworn officers to shut down gender discrimination when they see it. And it’s become increasingly clear over the years, she said, that both men and women have something special to bring to the table when it comes to law enforcement.
“Having a woman’s perspective is important, we walk through the world seeing things differently,” Nowaski said. “I’m not trying to say that men are not good at being police officers, but to have only men represent the community is just not acceptable.”
Nowaski, joined by other women in the police department, has been outspoken about promoting law enforcement as a career path for girls and young women, including the need to tailor recruitment efforts toward both men and women. Nowaski said local agencies often put out recruitment videos that depict police work as run-and-gun action with SWAT gear on, often neglecting the aspects of victim support and crisis management that might appeal to a broader range of people.
The truth is that all sworn officers have their strengths and weaknesses regardless of gender, Nowaski said, and that it’s important to set aside any biases and help new recruits foster a learning mindset and a focus on technical skills.
“Everyone’s got shortfalls. Some men can’t aim a gun to save their life and need extra work,” she said. “If that happens to a female officer then oh my gosh, that’s just one more reason to say she doesn’t belong here.”
The Mountain View Police Department has undergone significant leadership changes in recent years, with the retirement of former Police Chief Max Bosel and two people — Police Chief Chris Hsiung followed quickly by Nowaski — joining and leaving the new position of deputy chief in just two years.
Despite the movement, Nowaski said the Mountain View Police Department is in great hands and gave a glowing endorsement of the department’s leadership, including Hsiung and Captains Saul Jaeger and Mike Canfield.
“That is what brings me peace, is knowing that the future of the police department is in the hands of Chris, Saul, Mike and the lieutenants who will be making captains’ promotions in the next month,” Nowaski said. “I could not have handpicked a better command staff to retire and have them be the ones who are going to care for the future.”
I’m sorry to read this. My experiences with Deputy Chief Nowaski were always positive. I hope her efforts to recruit and foster female police officers in Mountain View pay off. Best wishes to her in her retirement from MVPD.
Best wishes Deputy Chief Nowaski. Thank you for your service to the city of Mountain View.