WASHINGTON — As Yogananda Pittman and Monique Moore climbed the ranks of the U.S. Capitol Police, they encountered no top-level supervisors who looked like them. No black women, from the chief down to the captains, were represented in the upper management of the federal law enforcement agency responsible for protecting lawmakers and congressional buildings.

Officers Yogananda “Yogi” Pittman, left, and Monique Moore, right, the first two African-American women to be promoted to the rank of captain on the U.S. Capitol Police force, stand together on the East Lawn of the Capitol in Washington, Monday, March 19, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Officers Yogananda “Yogi” Pittman, left, and Monique Moore, right, the first two African-American women to be promoted to the rank of captain on the U.S. Capitol Police force, stand together on the East Lawn of the Capitol in Washington, Monday, March 19, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

So it was more than a personal honor when the two became the first black women promoted to captain in the department, which in the past decade has been roiled by allegations from minority officers that they were passed over for promotions and subjected to racial intimidation and harassment.

“I just definitely think it lets them know that it’s attainable,” Pittman said, referring to younger black officers. “When you see someone who looks like yourself in the rank of captain and what have you, they know they can do it.”