Elizabeth Watson
| Elizabeth "Betsy" Watson | |
|---|---|
| Other names | "Betsy" |
| Police career | |
| Department | Houston Police Department |
| Years of service | 1990–1992 |
| Rank |
Police Trainee - 1972  Houston Police Chief - 1990–1992 Austin Police Chief - 1992–1997 |
Police Trainee - 1972
Detective - 1976
Lieutenant - 1981
Captain - 1984
Deputy Chief - 1987
Elizabeth "Betsy" Watson, was Houston's first female Police chief after climbing through the ranks. She served for two years before becoming the Chief for Austin's Police department before moving on to be a law enforcement consultant.
Watson grew up in Philadelphia but attended high school in Houston, after graduating from college and joining HPD, she met Chase in late 1973 when they were both assigned to the Houston jail, and they began dating the following spring. Since such fraternization was frowned upon, they used a police scuba-diving club as a cover. They married in 1976, the same day she was promoted to Detective.
She received her degree in psychology from Texas Tech University in 1971.
Immediately after graduating, she applied for the Houston Police Department, graduating at the top of her class. She commented that it was tough to be a female officer at the time, and her husband had coaxed her to take, and pass, the Lieutenant's exam after she was forced out of burglary division. To make up for her lack of street experience, she volunteered for night shift duty at some of the city's roughest substations.
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