Fremont’s new police chief wants to keep focus on work, not gender and orientation
The first thing Fremont’s new police chief, Kimberly Petersen, said in a phone interview was that she’s happy to talk about her personal life, but would prefer to “get away from the whole openly gay thing.”
Since assuming the role in July after 22 years on the force, Fremont’s first openly gay and female police chief has been a bit overwhelmed by the focus on her gender and sexual orientation, rather than on the work she does.
Petersen, 48, comes off as friendly, committed and no-nonsense. She didn’t grow up dreaming of being a police officer. In high school and college, she was a serious athlete and professional soccer player who played with FIFA stars such as Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy.
“Soccer helped me get into some great schools and open doors,” Petersen said.
Petersen earned a degree in human biology at Stanford University — but in the midst of it, ran out of money. To pay her tuition, she played professionally in Japan for two years.
It wasn’t until a year out of college, when a friend on the police force in Santa Clara invited her for a ride-along, that she instantly knew she wanted to join the police.
“You get to be outdoors and not in an office, every day is different. It’s exciting, it’s a team environment. I never looked back,” she said.
She was hired in Fremont in 1996, and has worked her way through the ranks. She was the first woman in the department’s SWAT team, where she pioneered and led the Tactical Emergency Medical Support Team. She also has served as sergeant, lieutenant and captain, where she managed jail and animal services, before being promoted to chief.
Petersen, who lives in Felton with her wife — a former officer with the Los Angeles Police Department — and their three children, says she never came out to her co-workers, because most people just caught on.
“They do detailed background checks, so I think some people knew,” she said, adding, “I don’t feel it was a barrier to attaining the things I wanted.” Despite the
overall support throughout her career, Petersen does admit that when she started, “It was a different time, so not as widely accepted. I kept it to myself in training. … I did grow a thicker skin.”
As police chief in Fremont, with a population of 230,000, Petersen oversees 311 full-time employees, 199 of whom are sworn police officers, and only 10 percent of whom are women. She would like to see more women join the force, as well as members of the city’s Afghan community, which she says is the largest outside Afghanistan.
Asked about the challenges she faces having been in the field for more than 20 years, Petersen points to the need for police to build better relationships with the population it serves.
“We have all been dealing with Ferguson and Freddie Gray, challenging us to be better. It has left a deepening divide between police and segments of some communities. We are working on gaining trust and support from communities,” she said.
Petersen also talked about the challenge of homelessness, a growing problem across California that has spiked significantly in Fremont. Petersen says 50 percent of the department’s calls deal with homelessness.