Therese Rocco: Pittsburgh's First Female Assistant Police Chief

Therese Rocco is known to her colleagues as “The Rock.” This diminutive woman, at the age of nineteen, began her career in law enforcement as a clerk in a small, all-female missing persons unit of the Pittsburgh Police Department. Her career ended nearly fifty years later, as an honored and acclaimed Assistant Police Chief—the first woman in the Pittsburgh Police Department to reach such a high-ranking position.

Many of the stories in this gritty and entertaining memoir underscore the fact that the young clerk was quickly moved into investigative work because of her grit and willingness to put herself in danger in the line of duty, and her determination to track down even the smallest lead.

I faced a great deal of discrimination…but I accepted the challenge with a smile…

Therese Rocco became a household name because of her tenacity and fearlessness in high profile cases involving missing children. Her dedication and dogged pursuit of truth earned her the recognition of governors, mayors and other high-ranking officials.

Some of my memories are indeed painful. I think of the faces of anxious parents as I braced myself to tell them their child would not be coming home.

Therese is credited with establishing protocols for the investigation of missing child cases that have saved the lives of untold numbers of children.