International Association of Women Police Conference kicks off in downtown Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Walking from Michigan Avenue and Balbo to Grant Park's Buckingham Fountain, nearly 800 female police officers representing over 60 countries paraded in their dress uniforms on Sunday as they kicked off the International Association of Women Police Conference.

An opening ceremony at the Hilton and Towers preceded the parade with 14th District Commander Melinda Linas serving as one of the event organizers.

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"Across the world, a woman in law enforcement, our roles can differ greatly. Some of us are sworn officers. Some of us are civilians. Some of us are out there enforcing the laws, while others are tending to victims," Linas said.

Over the next five days, the women will participate in a variety of workshops with Chicago serving as host of the event for the first time. A key theme of the conference is leadership.

"Twenty-five years ago, if you told me that almost 30% of the command staff of the Chicago Police Department will be women, I would have laughed. I would have said, 'absolutely not,'" Linas said.

CPD's numbers far exceed the U.S average, with women accounting for around 12% of police officers and only 3% of leadership positions nationwide. CPD Supt. Larry Snelling was present at Sunday's conference kickoff, and credited CPD's numbers to the women themselves.

"We have no shortage of great police officers who happen to be women. We have no shortage of great leaders who happen to be women within this department," Snelling said.

Snelling also made a point of highlighting the front-line role Chicago's female officers took during the Democratic National Convention, often times taking a significant amount of verbal abuse from protesters because of their gender.

"It was upsetting at the time. But in the end, I got to feel a level of pride of how those women responded and who they didn't take the bait," Snelling said.

The conference runs through Sept. 5. Topics will run the gamut from U.S. Border Patrol management to balancing work and family.