For Women and Police, A Real Accomplishment
Many of us reading "Reaching the Upper Ranks, in Force" [Fairfax Extra, Jan. 13] felt real satisfaction in seeing the number of our county's district station commanders who happen to be women. Fairfax County has every reason to be proud that Chief David M. Rohrer said in making these assignments that gender "really didn't enter into my thinking."
The difficulty of reaching this point cannot be overstated. The women officers who joined the Fairfax Police Department in the late 1970s and early '80s faced overt and persistent hostility that would have deterred less courageous souls. Women like Lt. Col. Suzanne G. Devlin and her peers simply loved their work too much to be run off by scare tactics and the worse forms of sexual discrimination. Whatever these women state about those experiences in public is a small fraction of their hardships.
These changes did not come quickly or easily, because the department's culture and the general times resisted. And these changes did not come merely because time passed. It took the leadership of people like former chiefs Michael W. Young and J. Thomas Manger to create a critical mass of talented women leaders who were evaluated on their merits.
In 1999, the Fairfax County Commission for Women reported to the county's Board of Supervisors on the need to advance more women in the ranks of the department, and Tom Manger was tenacious and visible in seeing that opportunities were available. The commission and the Police Department worked to create more recruitment strategies to bring women to the force, and Chief Manger and Lt. Col. Devlin created the first public safety leadership council to address the concerns of women officers, including policies about the return to duty from the birth of a child.
The commission had also made recommendations to advance women across the county organization so that hiring and promotions would be "gender blind." Chief Rohrer's statement that gender didn't enter into his promotional decisions carries behind it a whole lot of history and the toughness of some "pioneer" women.
I appreciate the article about the advancements in the Police Department and would also like to acknowledge the leadership of Chief Michael P. Neuhard of the Fire and Rescue Department for his leadership in making breakthrough promotions of women officers whose talents deserved such recognition.
Leia Francisco
Oakton
Francisco is the former executive director of the Fairfax County Commission for Women.
Medicare Patients Can Get Flu Shots
I am responding to the letter "Flu Shot Out of Reach for 78-Year-Old Veteran" in the Jan. 20 Fairfax Extra, in which the writer expressed concern that Medicare recipients are not able to get an influenza (flu) shot in Fairfax County because the Health Department does not accept Medicare cards.
Medicare patients can indeed receive a flu shot from the Fairfax County Health Department. In fact, the majority of individuals who received a flu shot from our clinics this season were 65 years and older.
Patients are asked to pay $17 at the time of the appointment. Afterward, Medicare patients can submit a claim to Medicare for reimbursement. While we realize this process may be an inconvenience for some, unfortunately the Health Department's current billing system does not have the capacity to accommodate the particular automated (electronic) billing system required by Medicare.
We are implementing a new billing system this summer that will allow us to accept Medicare cards as a payment source.
For updates regarding influenza vaccine, residents may call the Health Department's main information line at 703-246-2411, TTY 703-591-6435.
