[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 73 (Friday, May 14, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E853]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING SUSAN JONES

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 14, 2010

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
Susan Jones, who is retiring after serving 31 years in California law 
enforcement, the last 8 of which have been as the Chief of the 
Healdsburg Police Department.
  Chief Jones has always been a trail blazer. She was one of the first 
sworn female police officers in the State, serving first as a Deputy 
Sheriff in Kern County upon her discharge from the United States Air 
Force. She was with the Concord Police Department for 17 years, 
achieving the rank of Lieutenant and serving as district commander. 
From there she assumed the chief's position in Healdsburg, at that time 
only the fifth woman in the State to become a police chief and the 
first female police chief in Sonoma County.
  Chief Jones brought community-oriented policing and a problem-solving 
philosophy to Healdsburg. She adopted a geographic based team policing 
policy that greatly reduced crime in problem areas in the city.
  She helped diversify the force by hiring more women and minorities so 
that the department more closely reflected the community.
  During her tenure, she also developed a downtown foot patrol, school 
resource officers, an after school program and the police K9 program.
  As a result of her programs, crime was reduced from 12 to 20 percent 
in all categories in Healdsburg.
  She has served on the board of directors for the California Police 
Chiefs' Association for the past 5 years, where she co-chaired the 
Women Leaders in Law Enforcement Committee and chaired the Pension 
Reform Committee and the Small Agency Committee. She has also served 
variously as president, vice president, and treasurer of the Sonoma 
County Law Enforcement Chiefs' Association during the 8 years she has 
lived in Sonoma County.
  She and her partner, Toni Lisoni, intend to remain in Healdsburg, 
where she will continue to be involved in the community. She is now 
president-elect of the Sunrise Rotary Club and will continue to play 
saxophone in the Healdsburg Community Band.
  Madam Speaker, Chief Jones has served her country in the United 
States Air Force and various communities throughout California in her 
long and distinguished career in law enforcement. It is appropriate 
that we commend her for her many years of public service and wish her 
well on her retirement.

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