VENTURA : 7 Police Recruits Include 3 Women

Three women are among seven new officers scheduled to be sworn into the Ventura Police Department on Monday.

Five of the officers are trainees who recently graduated from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Academy. During an intensive 18-week course, the trainees received training in firearms, field exercises, emergency vehicle operation, defensive driving techniques and physical fitness.

Two officers from other law enforcement agencies will join the trainees at the swearing-in, to be held at 9 a.m. in the Police Department training room.

Desk officer Graham Jeffrey said it is not unusual to have three women among a group of seven recruits. The Police Department seeks to hire women whenever they are qualified, he said.

The new female officers are Kimberly Harian-Harton, 31, of Oxnard; Brigitte Jung, 27, a six-year veteran of the Glendale Police Department; and Kim K. Stewart, 39, an investigator with the Ventura County district attorney’s office for three years and a former deputy with the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department.

The male recruits are Gregory K. Hayes, 24, of Ventura, the son of Ventura Police Cpl. Russell Hayes; Jonathan P. Hixson, 28, of Oxnard; Terry Medina, 27, of Ventura; and Gregory J. Sowards, 35, of Apple Valley.