State Senate Asked to Confirm Local Woman For Juvenile Parole Board Post This Week

Former Pasadena police Lt. Phlunté Riddle, an appointee to the state Juvenile Parole Board, is expected to come up this week for confirmation by the state Senate. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Riddle to the Board of Juvenile Hearings in October 2019. The position pays $159,068 a year.

According to the Bay Area Reporter,  Riddle’s confirmation hearing was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The state Senate’s Rules Committee is scheduled to take it up on Wednesday, March 17.

Riddle on Sunday referred Pasadena Now to the governor’s office for comment.

After 28 years with the Pasadena Police Department, Riddle retired in 2012.

In 2015, Riddle unsuccessfully ran for the state Senate. 

While she was with the department, Riddle broke gender and racial barriers, becoming the first African-American woman sergeant and the first woman lieutenant in the motor pool. She was also the first female helicopter observer at major Rose Bowl events. 

Under the direction of former Chief Bernard Melekian and former Cmdr. Rick Law, Riddle started the city’s Police Athletic League.

Her father-in-law, Ralph Riddle, became the first Black police officer in Pasadena in 1946. He retired in 1974, also after 28 years with the force.

In 2012, Riddle received several invitations to apply for police chief positions, including one from the city manager in Seal Beach.

Riddle became the department’s public information officer in 2008 after former police Chief Philip Sanchez became chief, and she introduced him to the city’s major stakeholders, including residents of Northwest Pasadena.