The Speaker

Sonia Y. W. Pruitt retired from the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland after 28 years, where she became the first African American woman to attain the rank of Captain in the history of the police department. Her assignment before her retirement in 2020 was Director of the Community Engagement Division. Her background in policing includes organizational leadership, police ethics, internal affairs procedures, background investigations/recruitment/hiring, media and public information services, school resource officer programming, labor and legislative relations, and police/public policy.

Sonia holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, and a Master of Arts degree in Forensic Psychology, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Criminal Justice with a specialization in Policing.

Sonia is the Founder of The Black Police Experience, which promotes the education and history of the intersection of law enforcement and the Black community. She is also a member of the speakers’ bureau of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), which advocates for criminal justice and drug policy reform, and National Strategies for Justice, a speaking and training organization with a focus on issues of gender, disability, and racial equity within law enforcement. Sonia is past chairperson of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) and is an active member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

In addition to her other significant undertakings, Sonia also works in conjunction with other law enforcement partners—think tanks, sociologists, and anthropologists—to create training, education, and networking opportunities, such as with the National Strategy for Blacks in Policing (NSBP). Their programming is designed to create courageous and ethical law enforcement leadership and to support Black police officers in their quest for equity inside police departments. Sonia is also a member of a group of law enforcement officials called the National Criminal Justice Practitioners, who advocate for the Black community on issues affecting the criminal legal system. She is a member of Conscious Leaders, a group of Black Maryland executive law enforcement officers, with whom members of the Maryland legislature extensively conferred before passage of the Maryland Police Accountability Act in 2021. Sonia also served on the Prince George’s County Public Safety Workgroup in 2020, from which 46 recommendations were accepted by the County Executive to make reforms to critical issues in law enforcement in the County, to include hiring, training, and use of force policy. She has also served as an expert witness with a focus on police policy.

Sonia is a Professor of Criminal Justice at Montgomery College in Maryland where she is the Director for the Community-Informed Policing Program, which she helped create to educate police officers in the expectations of a diverse community, in areas such as social justice, policing history, community engagement, and health and wellness. She is also a Professor of Criminal Justice at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Sonia is an active member of the American Society of Criminology (ASC).

Sonia speaks on a variety of law enforcement-related issues, both in the United States and internationally, most recently with the United Nations. You may have seen or heard her commentary on MSNBC, CNN, BBC, BNC, and NPR as well as on other video and audio media. She particularly likes to speak on matters that acknowledge the divide between law enforcement and the community at large. Her interest is law enforcement issues as they relate to officers of color, Black women, and vulnerable communities, and she looks to offer information to spur personal education and growth.

The Workshop

Women in Today’s Law Enforcement : Wednesday, September 24, 2025 02:30P

Women make up approximately half of the US population but only about 12% of police officers. A law enforcement agency’s most valuable recruiting tool is its people. For underrepresented minorities — more specifically, women — that can be even more true. Women currently make up just over 12% of police officers nationwide. There are even fewer women, currently only 3%, in leadership positions within police agencies. Efforts such as the 30×30 Initiative strive to increase the number of women in policing to 30% by 2030. While agencies are thinking outside the box to adjust recruiting efforts and make changes to the hiring process to attract more candidates, it is time for individuals and leaders in law enforcement to take greater ownership for how we may be contributing to the problem and how we can make changes to become part of the solution.

We know women can bring unique qualities and life experiences to this work. So, how do we get more women to understand how well-suited they are for policing?