Show In 1990 the mayor efflouston eard Flizabeth Watson the mother tPuy a tough challerzge: L "ark itn--'- 11)L and the police union had feuded bitterly ) t over budget cuts and layoffs Houston's 'Z i crime rate—after a decline in the '80s— was on the rise and the public WM almmed 1 I and angry Although she had good relaJt) tions with mo 4 of her colleagues Wat14' son suspected that some men would reinowN sent a woman chief She also wanted to Ps implement plans for cracking down on r career criminals for alternative sentences for new offenders and diversion programs to keep kids from turning to crime But all these challenges suddenly seemed minor when Chief Watson made — a discovery: "I had been three months i into the job when I learned I was pregNit nant" she says now able to smile at the memory "I thought 'Wow this has got to be the shortest tenure of any chief ever' I decided I would try to make ts110) things as orderly and quiet as possible" I expressed surprise that a woman who had worked so hard to reach the top would consider giving up the job she had earned But Watson told me she saw no C) other choice at first "I knew this position and its demands! know how difficult it is and now I was having a baby I wonN dered 'Who could do that?' I couldn't possibly do that" Watson was keenly aware that she might be letting down a lot of people who believed in her She recalls thinking: "The community is going to say 'That's what you get when you put a woman in the job' The mayor is going to say 'Thank you very much' and the department is going to feel the same" To her surprise everybody she talked to told her that quitting would be a bad idea "I talked it over with my husband warrants and drew her service revolver on criminals (although she never had to who strongly resisted my quitting He fire it) She was the first woman on the said 'You might be able to do it Why SWAT team then an architect of a new don't you try?' "When Watson disclosed crime-analys- is program then the first her condition to her board of five aswoman deputy chief But it was not just sistant chiefs they rallied behind her: her experience that led Mayor Whitmire "They said 'You have to start taking it to offer her the top job two years ago easy Share the load with us'" Even the "All the candidates could run the deboss was enthusiastic "The mayor said partment" says Myra Jolivet who was 'You're not going to quit on me are then a Whitmire staffer and is now a Watyou?' " Watson recalls So the new chief son aide "But the mayor was looking made her decision: "I just thought 'With for someone who was d this kind of support it's silly not to try" and Watson was the one who had thought Thirteen months ago David Watson a lot about the future of the department" was born Six weeks later his mother When Watson took the job which pays was back on the job Every morning she rises at 7 to feed and clothe her kids $95940 a year she knew that the pmblems facing her were sizable: Whitmire send Susan and Mark off to school and : A' itA4 1 II lk 4° Ar i 4 e''''' ' I " 1 i - T WAS THE NIGHT OF A chili cook-o- ff last fall at the Johnson Space Center south of Houston and Susan and Above: February 1990— chief of pressing items on their agen- police by Houston Mayor Kathryn Whitmire "I want chili" said Susan 10 trying to attract Elizabeth Watson's attention "I want a chili dog" said Mark 5 "Chili" Susan repeated "Chili hot dog" said Mark Betsy Watson patiently explained to her kids that they would have to wait just mom fasha minute Then in time-testion she solved the problem: Spotting her husband Robert in the crowd she sent the kids off to lobby him for a while Then she returned to the subject of her career "Actually undercover and SWAT work were the assignments I had" said the mother in the decorous business outfit "When I was undercover nobody knew who I was When I was in SWAT there were a few call-ubut the nature of SWAT is that things are handled very carefully" If there is an inherent contradiction between being a doting mother and being a cop who has tackled some of police work's toughest assignments the news hasn't reached Elizabeth Watson In fact in 1990 she took on one of the most daunting police jobs in the nation She Housbecame chief of the ton Police Department the fourth-large- st city force in the country "I never wanted to be chief" says Watson who was promoted from deputy chief by Mayor Kathryn Whitmire "But it was an opportunity to make a real and lasting died if Elizabeth Watson is sworn in as Mark Watson had more da than listening to their mother talk about her job Right June 1990— The New chief ' In office By ps 4400-memb- er MI then Watson bad discovered she was pregnant ference in the department If! declined I knew I would forever regret it" Over the past two decades Elizabeth Watson 42 has worked her way up from the lowest level of police work After earning a bachelor's degree in psychology at Texas Tech she worked in a clerical job then took the police exam "I needed a job that paid more" she says with a laugh Women police officers were still something of a novelty in Houston their work usually limited to juvenile and jail detail "After a few years I thought I'd move on because there were no promotional opportunities" she adds But with the social changes of the '70s Watson saw possibilities begin to emerge around her As a street cop she served C ) 1 least-dangero- us fB c H A E future-oriente- R Y A PACE $t JAMIARY 5 1392 PARADE ALCM |