Susan Pamerleau

Sheri Susan Lewellyn Pamerleau (born 1946) is the Republican sheriff of populous Bexar County, Texas, the first woman to hold the position, having won the general election of November 6, 2012.

Pamerleau describes herself as a "a tough, decisive leader who works tirelessly to protect every citizen in Bexar County," which encompasses San Antonio, the second largest Texas city in population and the seventh most populated city in the United States. She downplayed her having become the first woman to have been elected sheriff of her county: "This isn't about being a woman. This is about getting a job done and focusing on a mission.”

Background
Pamerleau's mother (name missing) was reared in Knoxville in eastern Tennessee, where her parents owned a grocery store near the downtown. Her father (name also missing) was reared on a tobacco farm near Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her parents met at church while he was studying for the ministry at a small Bible college near Knoxville. After graduation, the couple wed and moved west to Oklahoma, where Susan and her brother, Michael (full name missing), were born. Diagnosed in the 1960s with bipolar disorder, Michael died after having been struck by a car. The family lived in several small Oklahoma communities before relocating in 1949 to the capital city of Oklahoma City, thereafter Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the latter 1950s, and to Casper, Wyoming in the 1960s. Her parents remained married for sixty years.

In 1968, Pamerleau graduated with a degree in sociology from the University of Wyoming at Laramie. In 2009, she was named an outstanding alumnus of the UW College of Arts and Sciences. She sits on the University of Wyoming Foundation Board. In 1978, she received a Master of Public Administration degree from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California. In 1998, Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma, affiliated with her denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), awarded her an honorary doctorate. Pamerleau is also a Phillips University trustee. Pamerleau further studied at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, near Chicago, Illinois.

Career
For thirty-two years, Pamerleau was an officer in the United States Air Force, in which she reached the rank of major general. When she entered the Air Force, only 1.2 percent of personnel were women. She spent her early military service in support operations before she was assigned to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, to formulate requirements for base realignment and closure. She represented the United States in Brussels, Belgium, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, at which she was an advisor on strategic and force planning, nuclear policy, and arms control and disarmament. She served in personnel management in Washington, D.C., and commanded the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at Maxwell Air Force Base in the capital city of Montgomery, Alabama. She came to San Antonio as commander of the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base. She is a former trustee of the Arnold Air Society. As she was progressing from the rank of lieutenant to captain, her husband of eight years, Ben (full name missing), was abusing her verbally, and sometimes physically. After she left him in May 1978, in fear for her safety, he committed suicide with his pistol. At the time she was stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Pamerleau said that her tumultuous past and her position as sheriff are intertwined because her life experience gives her insight into problems of domestic violence and crime prevention: "I thank God every day I'm alive. Because of that experience, I feel I have a responsibility to help others."

Pamerleau earned the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with "V" device and three oak leaf clusters, the Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with oak leaf cluster, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon. After her military years, Pamerleau in San Antonio procured employment with the United States Automobile Association, a company that provides financial services to military staff and their families. Until 2007, she was the USAA senior vice president. Her civic activities include Childsafe, the United Service Organization, the United Way of America, and Goodwill Industries in San Antonio.

In 2010, Pamerleau became the Republican nominee by default for a seat on the Bexar County Commission after the death of the party's initial candidate. She gave incumbent Democrat Tommy Adkisson a strong challenge. Two years later, she unseated Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz, an Hispanic Democrat who spent most of the general election campaign under attack for the deaths of two police dogs, a tragedy which critics claimed could have been avoided. Ortiz was charged with a staffing crisis at the jail, which he blamed on budget cuts imposed by the five-member Bexar County Commissioners Court. Ortiz was accused of using county resources in his campaign. The district attorney requested that the Texas Rangers Division investigate Ortiz. In defeat, Ortiz said that he respected the democratic process but accused Pamerleau of running a dishonest campaign.

As sheriff, Pamerleau supervises some 1,700 deputies, detention officers and civilian employees. She manages a budget of about $105 million, a third of the entire spending for Bexar County government. To become sheriff, she passed weapons qualifications examinations. Political consultant Jim Lunz, formerly affiliated with U.S. Senator John Cornyn, first urged her to run for sheriff. Pamerleau was initially sceptical, but on closer consideration believed that she had to skills to operate a mega-jail and to plan for population growth around one of the largest cities in the United States.

In September 2015, Pamerleau faced a crisis when reports surfaced that two of her deputies shot to death Gilbert Flores, a 41-year-old parolee, when they answered a domestic violence call at Flores' residence. Video of the incident appeared to show Flores holding up both hands raised and surrendering, though another report indicated that Flores was holding a knife in one hand. Pamerleau said that her department will turn over reports of its investigation to the district attorney to ascertain if charges will be filed against the officers. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also monitoring the matter.

In November 2015, Sheriff Pamerleau announced that Bexar County deputies will soon begin using body cams. The commissioner court approved $818,000 for the specialty cameras, with another $750,000 sought through a federal grant. Pamerleau said that she is working on guidelines for the use of the cameras and issues which arise regarding public access to the recordings.

Pamerleau said that deputies are trained in event of attack or catastrophe and remain on alert at all times to protect the public.