Janice Lowers get a hug from a friend after being promoted to captain. Lowers is the first female captain in the 92 year history of othe Burbank Police Department

A Peerless Promotion - Captain Janice Lowers becomes highest-ranking woman in Burbank Police Department's 92 year history
By Jackson Bell/Photos by Scott Roby

When Janice Lowers joined the Burbank Police Department as a cadet in 1976, she never envisioned becoming a police officer. She certainly never expected to make history.

On Monday, Lowers, 47, became the highest-ranking woman in the department's 92 year history when she was promoted to captain.

I don't like to think of it as being the first woman," she said. "I like to think of it just as someone who was promoted to captain who just happens to be female.

Dozens of police officers, friends and family members convened in the department's main conference room for a high-spirited ceremony in which Lowers and four other officers were promoted. Police Chief Thomas Hoefel, who hosted the event, echoed Lowers' sentiments, saying that ability not gender, was the reason she was promoted.

"She is just remendously competent and highly qualified for the position," Hoefel said. "She has a great blend of education, experience, community involvement and personal characteristics that make her an outstanding candidate, and I look forward to watching her progress."

Hoefel, though, recognized Lowers' promotion as a milestone because the Burbank Police Department, like other across the country, needs to increase diversity.

Deputy Chief Larry Koch, who has known Lowers since she was a cadet, said he was proud of her accomplishment.

"There were no female officers when I started herein 1973," Koch said. "It shows a real change in the 30 years I've been here, now taht she is the first female promoted to captain."

Of the department's 168 officers, 10 are female, including six patrol officers, two detectives and one lieutenant. Lowers will oversee the Special Operations Division, which includes the animal shelter, traffic and records bureaus, and the computer unit. Lowers, a John Burroughs High School gradute, was attending Cal State Northridge when she was encouraged to become a cadet by then-Assistant Chief Bob Heins.

Lowers became an officer in 1977, and over th eyears worked in such areas as the Juvenile Bureau and Community Outreach and Personal Services. She became a sergeant in 1991, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1998.

Lowers, the mother of a 16-year-old twins, was named Officer of the Year in 1998 and received the Rex Andrew Memorial Police Scholarship in 2000. She has also coached her childrens' softball and basketball teams, volunteered as the treasurer for Boy Scout Troop 210 and served on the school district bond oversight committee.

But Lower admits she wasn't always interested in police work.

When I first came on as a police cadet, my goal wasn't to become a police officer," she said. "But this is a job that captivates the imagination, and I soon grew to love it."

Lowers said she still ooks forward to getting up in the morning and going to the office because "I don't know what the day will bring."

Other officers promoted Monday were Flor Pagador to Senior Animal Control Officer, Jerry Misquez to detective, Kevin Grandalski to sergeant and Pat Lynch to lieutenant.