U.S. Capitol Police Capt. Carneysha Mendoza, a former Jefferson County resident, will be the guest speaker at the 2023 Cultural Diversity Luncheon, set for Feb. 25.
“The speaker – I think she’ll blow people away, with all her credentials,” said Jim Sparling of the Cultural Diversity Committee, which sponsors the luncheon.
It will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Quality Inn, 1200 W. Gannon Drive, in Festus.
The M.O.B.B. (Missouri Big Band) will perform at the event.
Admission is $30. Proceeds will go to Douglass Alumni Scholarship Fund, which provides Black county students with scholarships, Sparling said.
Mendoza
Mendoza, 43, of Washington, D.C., a 1998 Festus High School graduate, was inducted into the Festus R-6 School District Hall of Fame in April 2022.
She served in the Army for four years, working in criminal investigations. She also was part of the Army’s recovery efforts at the Pentagon following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S.
Mendoza joined the Capitol Police in 2002 and currently serves as commander of its Civil Disturbance Unit, which oversees protests, responds to civil unrest and handles critical incidents.
She also is assistant commander of the Special Operations Division of the Capitol Police, which encompasses 13 programs, including patrol, tactical, crises negotiation, K9, crime scene, crash investigation and motorcades.
Mendoza was honored for excellence in leadership after a shooting where multiple people, including a congressman, were wounded. She also was acknowledged for her leadership during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“I helped deliver a baby a few months ago,” Mendoza said Jan. 19. “An officer called for assistance. The lady was in full labor. I helped deliver the baby. The baby girl is now 3 months old.”
During a recent visit to St. Louis, Mendoza assisted local law enforcement while bullets were flying.
“There was a shooting at Union Station,” she said. “I chased down the shooter. A guy had been shot in Union Station.”
Mendoza is a certified grenadier, a certified less-lethal instructor and a certified protect-and-restrain instructor. She has worked various high-profile events, such as presidential inaugurations, state of the union addresses and state funerals.
In addition, she has coordinated security and resident checks for high-risk U.S. dignitaries and served as a watch commander responsible for overseeing departmentwide operations, as well as Washington, D.C., airspace.
She said she was still considering what exactly to talk about during her approximately 30-minute talk at the Cultural Diversity Luncheon.
“Obviously, I’ll talk about how I grew up and got interested in law enforcement.”
She said she looks forward to visiting her hometown.
“This will be different (than when she gives other talks),” she said. “This will be for family and friends. It’s exciting to be able to come back and see family and friends.”
Mendoza is the mother of two boys, Isaiah, 23, and Christian, 12, and a 9-month-old golden doodle.
The luncheon started in 1995 and has been held annually, except for in 2021 and 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re very happy to be having it again,” Sparling said.
For more information about the event, contact Sparling at 314-422-9436, Denise Brown at 636-937-0575 or Susan Harrison at 314-221-1757, or visit the Cu Diversity page on Facebook.