Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127117
Interview: LAPD Motorcycle Officer Joanna Brownell Desert's fastest female now rides for LAPD By A nne and Tom Van Beve ren P hotos by Tom Van Beveren Rem em ber the sinking feeling you got when the flashing lights came on in the rear view mirror? Remember the indignity of being pulled over to the curb and having every driver on th e road slow down to sta re a t you as the motord " eye Ie a ff leer In the ark g lasse s and sh iny blaek boots took 6 what seem ed lik e th ree days to wri te o ut a ticket? We ll, th at s in ki ng feel in g is no th ing co m p ared to wha t la wbreak in g m oto ri st s in so ut he rn California a re in for now. The LAPD . has released a newforce on the streets o f its city and Los Angeles motorists a re in for th e surp rise o f th eir lives. The LAPD 's n ew weapon is J oanna Brownell, one o f the departmerit's newest motorcycle o fficers and the o n ly one with hai r a ll the way do wn to her wa ist. T wenty-eig ht-year- old Brownell , alrea dy known as the fastest wo ma n racer in AMA / Dis tri ct 37 desert co m pet itio n, pu t her na me in a different set of record books recen tly wh en she became th e first wo ma n ever to earn a ride in the LAPD 's' motorcycle di vision, Bro wn ell p uts on dark glasses a nd shi ny boots every morn in g befor e lea vin g for her new job a nd pe rforms her duties a t th e helm o f a Pol ice Kaw asaki 1000 just like her f ellow officers. But, as ยท th e dep artment's o n ly femal e motorcycl e offi cer , Brownell su rp rises the heck out of most o f her " victi ms." " T hey don't expect me to be a woman," Bro wn ell sai d. " Peo p le are used to seeing wo me n in police cars, b ut when someone on a bike pulls them over, they expect it to be a man. When I wa lk over a nd "ask to see th eir licen se they just look a t me with their mo u t hs o p e n . It ca n be p rett y fu n ny ." " T here are a few g uys in th e department wh o have a huff up th eir sleeves because I made it th rough th e train in g a nd invaded th eir domain, but I get a lo ng with most of them reall v well ," sa id Brownell. " And even 'if I didn't , it wo uld n' t sto p me. It' s wha t ' wa nt to do, so I'll do it. " You can see Bro wn ell 's determina tion in everyth ing she does. Fro m a Na tiona l Cha mp ions hip in ka ra te to co m p le te d om inat ion o f th e Women 's Division in AMA/ Distric t 37 desert racin g, the five-foot, eig htinc h brunett e is a winner through a nd through. But wh en it came to earn ing a ride as an LAPD motorcycle offi cer, even Brownell had her doubts. . ' . "This was the first thing I ever did in m y life that' thought I wasn 't go ing to get," sa id Brownell .candidl y. " O ne- h u ndred, six ty people d id th e oral interview for th e .riding schoo l, a nd o u t of th ose they o nly took 17 in the class - I was 15th. But even that doesn 't mean yo u'll mak e it - th ere' s usuall y a 30 to 40 pe rcen t wash out rat e. T here were six girls before me th at had tried - two o f th em twi ce - a nd th ey never made it through th e first week. It was somet hing I reall y wanted to do , but I didn 't know if' was going to make it." Brownell 's police career began in January 1982 wh en she joined th e LAPD as a regular police offi cer. '" ac tua lly moved here from Massach use tts to get involved in the. mov ies, no t pol ice wor k, " said Brownell , as she toyed with the tiny go ld handcuffs th at she wears on a cha in aro u nd her neck. " I' ve been involved in th e martial arts for years a nd I wanted to do som e bodyguard and stunt work, but all that ended up getting put on the back burner wh en I joined th e LAPD." As if launch in g a new career wasn 't eno ug h, Brownell was soon tackl in g a new sport too. A friend go t her interested in riding motorcycles in Ma y 1983 a nd by June she had bought a new Husqvarna and