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West Coast police chief is sworn in with a brachah.

ANDY ALTMAN-OHR

Jewish Bulletin of Northern California

San Francisco

eed to find a place that sells
cheap doughnuts and strong
coffee?.Ask a police officer.
Want to locate a good
Jewish deli on the peninsula south of
San Francisco?
Ask Susan Manheimer — the
new Jewish chief of police in San
Mateo. No, blintzes and badges
usually don't mix, but when it
comes to being a cop, Manheimer
is creating a new mold.
For example, when she was an offi-
cer in San Francisco, she walked beats
in some of the seediest sections of the
city. Manheimer didn't win people
over by stating her rank and waggling
her weapon; rather, she did it by
being friendly, affable and innovative.
Now, as the top cop in the San
Mateo, she is one of four female
police chiefs among 337 municipal
police departments in California.
"This woman has personality and
drive, and she has a knack for mak-
ing everyone feel good about them-
selves and about the work that the
police department does," said Rabbi
Herbert Morris, retired spiritual
leader at Congregation Beth Israel-
Judea, where Manheimer served on
the board. "She's a fantastic repre-
sentative for both the police depart-
ment and the Jewish community"
Rabbi Morris, Manheimer's long-
time rabbi, said a brachah (blessing)
over her at her swearing-in ceremo-
ny in May.

Higher Calling?
"I would venture to guess that her

becoming chief of police is probably
just a stepping stone," said Andrew
Cohen, a San Francisco police officer.
"I could see her running a major city
one day in her life, if not following in
the footsteps of other great women of
San Francisco." He added that
Manheimer has helped him learn a lot
about himself and Judaism.
Manheimer, 44, lives in Pacifica,
Calif, with her husband, Michael, and
son Jesse, who is about to hit the one-
year anniversary of his bar mitzvah.

Her 20-year-old daughter, Sarah, goes
to the University of California at San
Diego. They are longtime members at
Beth Israel-Judea, a Conservative-
Reform congregation in San Francisco.
Originally from New York,
Manheimer spent her early childhood
in the north Bronx in what she called
"an old Jewish-Italian neighborhood."
Cops on the beat walked the streets,

in business management from St.
Mary's College in Moraga, Calif, and
had worked as a KCBS radio reporter.
Plus, how many nice Jewish girls
grow up to be a cop?
"I think my dad was thrilled and my
mom was shocked," Manheimer
recalled. "But they didn't try to talk me
out of it at all. I've done a lot of non-
traditional things in my life, and they
had a real confidence in me. They
always instilled in me that I could
do anything I wanted to."
She graduated from the police
academy in 1984 and spent the
next 15 years in San Francisco, ris-
ing to the rank of sergeant, then
lieutenant and then captain.

Street Wars

responded quickly to crises and were
friendly with all the residents. "I really
came to admire what they did and what
they stood for in society," she said.
However, Manheimer didn't decide
on a career in law enforcement until
age 27. The impetus was getting
robbed in the company of her daugh-
ter, then 2, in the Panhandle area near
San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
It was a somewhat curious career
move at the time. Although she had
taken some criminology classes at the
University of Maryland in the 1970s,
she had finished college with a degree

Some of Manheimer's most impres-
sive work occurred when she was
commanding officer of the
Tenderloin Task Force, a hand-
picked team of 100 officers.
To improve life in what is perhaps
San Francisco's toughest neighbor-
hood, she helped halt new massage
parlors and liquor stores, established a
graffiti paint-out program and school
drug-free zones, and helped reclaim
the streets for children on Halloween.
Cohen, the police officer, said
Manheimer's people skills — "sim-
ply going up to Tenderloin's assort-
ment of drug dealers, prostitutes
and other residents and talking to
them" — are amazing.
She also touched Cohen on a
Jewish level. "She introduced me
to my first seder," he said. "I'm
Jewish, but I came from a non-
religious background. She opened
my eyes a little bit to some Jewish val-
ues, like the strong sense of family."
At the seder Cohen talked about,
Rabbi Morris was presented with an
honorary police star for his work as an
SFPD chaplain — a program to which
Manheimer helped add a Jewish flavor.
The police chief also helped start a
Jewish law-enforcement group in the
an Francisco. It was very loose-knit,
more of a kind of networking opportu-
nity," Manheimer said. "But it was a
nice opportunity to get together, speak
with a rabbi and recognize there was a
Jewish presence on the force."

From the pages of the Jewish News for
this week 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50
years ago.

1990

Former Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin was recovering
after a three-hour operation to
replace a metal pin in his hip.
Adat Shalom Synagogue honored
Cantor Larry Vieder for 30 years of
service.

1980

Four American Jewish scientists
shared the Nobel Prize in chem-
istry, economics and physiology.
A controversy built in the
Knesset over a proposal to annex
the Golan Heights.
Sandee Wittenberg and Amy
Cuder were named to chair the annu-
al Hillel Day School dinner-dance.

1970

Yasser Arafat, leader of El Fatah,
told Palestinian extremists that
there should be no more skyjack-
ings of Western airliners.
Steven Schwimmer and Lawrence
Tower of Southfield-Lathrup High
School were named National Merit
Scholarship finalists.

1960

Argentina's foreign minister and the
governor of Buenos Aires province
were among the many visitors to the
Israeli exhibition of biblical archeol-
ogy on display in Buenos Aires.
Morris Direnfeld of Detroit was
presented with the Outstanding
Ben B'rith Award from
Metropolitan Detroit B'nai B'rith.

1950

Hebrew University will open a spe-
cial laboratory in Montreal for the
study of infantile paralysis.
Detroiter Henry Wineman, presi-
dent of People's Outfitting
Company, was appointed to serve
as the Jewish co-chair of the
anniversary dinner of the National
Conference of Christians and Jews.
Isadore Rosenberg of Detroit was
reelected president of Congregation
Beth Shmuel.

— Compiled by Sy Manello,
editorial assistant

10/2
2000

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