Holding their own: Women special agents valuable to FBI’s mission

When she became an FBI special agent in 1972, as one of the first two women in the country to work as a special agent, Susan Malone was issued a purse.

“I put it in my closet and never used it,” she said of the FBI-issued accessory.

Malone had aspired to be a special agent since eighth grade, when she was assigned to write about an agency in the federal government and chose the FBI.

On Monday, Malone shared her story at a question-and-answer event hosted at The LGBTQ+ Center of Southern Nevada. The event was attended by about 75 people, including FBI Las Vegas agents, Las Vegas police officers and members of the public.

Before former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s death in 1972, women were not even allowed to apply to become special agents.

But today, in the Las Vegas field office, 22 percent of the 129 agents are women.

Local trailblazers

When Ellen Knowlton took over as special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office in 2002, she made history becoming the first woman to hold that position in Las Vegas.

She started working at the FBI in 1982 in Sacramento and made stops in San Francisco, New Orleans and Washington D.C. before retiring from the bureau in 2006.

Knowlton said even early in her career she felt welcome in the male-dominated profession. While working in the Oklahoma City field office, Knowlton recalled a colleague pulling her aside to comment on the red shoes she wore to work, telling her that FBI agents don’t wear red shoes.

“Well, apparently they do,” Knowlton replied.

In June 2020, Cynthia Santana became the first woman to be named assistant special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office. She oversees national security that includes international and domestic terrorism and counterintelligence.

She said the portrayal of the FBI in television and the movies is “night and day” from what its like to be an FBI special agent. Santana said the camaraderie among the staff has been her favorite part of the job.

Santana said women in the workforce help the FBI.

“I tend to look at things a little bit differently and that’s why it’s crucial to have men and women working together because where one may not see something the other one would be able to pick up on it,” Santana said.

Holding their own

Malone was a first lieutenant in the Marines when she applied to become a special agent. She and Joanne Pierce, a former nun, teacher and bureau clerk, were accepted and went to the FBI academy in Quantico, Virigina.

They joined an academy class of about 45 men.

“I could more than hold my own,” she said. “I felt very good that on the runs I could certainly outrun some of the guys.”

She described some as stunned at her and Pierce’s presence at the academy, but said they were accepted once they proved their merit.

Supervisory Special Agent Mari Panovich has worked as an FBI agent since 2009. Nearly her entire career, which has spanned more than 14 years, has been at the bureau’s Las Vegas office.

“I do feel as a woman in law enforcement we have to work 10 times harder to prove ourselves sometimes,” Panovich said.

Regardless, she said the number of women joining the bureau as agents has increased during her career and she encouraged others to do the same.

“Don’t hold back from wanting to do it because it’s an amazing career. It’s life changing,” Panovich said.

Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @davidwilson_RJ on Twitter.