Catherine Johnson is a retired police officer with Austin Police Department with 25 years of experience. After graduating from TCU, Johnson started her career in juvenile probation. She joined the Austin Police Department in 1999 as a patrol officer where she enjoyed how every day held something different. In 2003, she was promoted to detective, investigating cases involving abuse of children.
Over the years, Johnson held many roles and was chosen for the FBI National Academy’s prestigious three-month leadership program. In 2021, she was promoted to assistant chief, where she served until her retirement in June 2022.
Johnson was working in recruiting for the Austin Police Department when she learned of the 30×30 Initiative. Police departments that choose to sign the pledge commit to raising their percentage of female law enforcement officers to 30 percent by 2030 and to making police culture more inclusive.
Nationwide, women make up only 12 percent of the force — and only 3 percent of leadership positions. Johnson found that unacceptable. Research compiled by 30×30 shows that female officers are more trusted by the community, use less unnecessary force, and promote positive outcomes for crime victims.
Catherine was also one of the founding members of the Women’s Mentoring Program with APD. The goal is to pair younger officers with more experienced female police officers to help and guide them throughout their careers.
“It’s the day to day that officers and first responders, the things that they go through, but they still show up even when people don’t appreciate them. And that’s really tough to see after doing this job for so long is that men and women are still putting on the uniform and protecting the community when they feel like they don’t have that support.” Johnson believes.
In my life, I feel very fortunate to be part of the family of law enforcement and to be part of that community and to always support that community.
