On one hand, there are seven women chiefs in California, the largest number in any State. On the other hand, women continue to face obstacles in hiring and, once recruited, are often victims of sexual harassment. In 1987, the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) sponsored a futures study on the impact women police officers and administrators would have on California law enforcement by the year 2000. The only police-specific event described in the study as influencing the recruitment and promotion of women officers was the election of the first woman sheriff and five or more women chiefs serving in the State; this condition has already been exceeded. This article describes the experiences some of those women chiefs have had in their police careers. 3 references