Chief Gifford was raised in a family of nine in Eaton Rapids, Michigan. She obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University in 1974. In 1975 she attended the Mid-Michigan Law Enforcement Training Academy where she served as President of the class and was assigned as the first woman patrol Deputy Sheriff for the Meridian Township Police/Ingham County Sheriff’s Department.
In 1977 Chief Gifford was hired by the Anchorage Police Department and graduated valedictorian from their academy. Over the years she served as a Patrol Officer, Traffic Officer, Hit and Run Investigator, Burglary Unit Detective, Corporal and Sergeant, Lieutenant in charge of the Training Section, Property Crimes Section and Person Crimes Section, Captain in charge of the Technical Services Division, Patrol Division, and finished her career in 1997 as Captain in charge of the Detective Division. She was appointed as the Chief of Police of the Soldotna Police Department where she has served for the past 5½ years. Chief Gifford has taught many courses to include report writing, officer involved shootings, domestic violence, school violence, and professionalism and leadership to a variety of groups and professions, as well as 2 semesters of criminal investigations at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.
Chief Gifford attended the 164th Session of the FBI National Academy in January 1991. She is a lifetime member of the Alaska Peace Officers Association where she served as Vice President and President and was recognized twice as Member of the Year. Chief Gifford is a lifetime member of the International Association of Women Police and founding President of the Women Police of Alaska.
Chief Gifford serves as Vice President of the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police, President of the Soldotna High School Site Based Council, President of the Center for Mediation and Community Dialogue, Chair for the Sexual Assault Response Team Steering Committee for the Central Peninsula and Member of the Alaska Police Standards Council. She serves on several other committees in her community.
Last month Chief Gifford was awarded the “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” award from the National Center for Women in Policing in Los Angeles, as well as the "Outstanding Service to Education" award from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District.
Chief Gifford’s daughter, Morgan is a college student majoring in Biology and Psychology. Her husband, Bill is also a retired Captain with the Anchorage Police Department and currently works cold case homicides for the Alaska State Troopers in addition to consulting on crime scene reconstruction and blood-stain analysis.
UPDATE: as of September 2003 Chief has retired from the Soldotna Police Department.