By Amanda Connelly
This Fall semester, I am taking an online class called Web Tools: Global Learning. As part of our course work, we are participating in the SDGs Project. SDG stands for Sustainable Development Goals and in total there are seventeen goals that aim to make the word a better place. Although every single one of the seventeen SDGs are extremely important, the goal that stuck out to me the most was Goal #5: Gender Equality. SDG #5 focuses on reaching gender equality as well as empowering all girls and women. Specifically for my project I focused on Target 5.1, which aims at ending all forms of discrimination against all females everywhere.
Now that you have some background on SDG #5, lets dive into my project, women as police officers. I decided to focus my project on women as police officers for two main reasons. The first reason had to do with me wanting to be a police officer a few years ago. I decided not to pursue a career in law enforcement because I was worried about how I would be treated as a woman police officer by both my colleagues and the public. Although I knew I was capable of being an officer, I let my fears take over and ultimately made the decision to pass on the idea of being a police officer. The second reason for choosing this particular topic had to do with my environment. I was raised in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia and looking back, I cannot remember seeing a single female officer on the police force. I knew female officers existed, especially since my mom also thought about becoming an officer when I was much younger, but I never actually saw one in person. My family and I then moved to Ventnor, NJ, right before my 12th grade year and for the first time I saw a female officer. Although I was older, it was still exciting for me to see a female officer since I felt she was representing women and everything they are capable of. However, looking back it was also sad since this should not have been the first female officer I had seen in my life.
When it comes to the police officers of Ventnor, NJ, they are truly amazing. Ventnor is a small place so it is very common to see the same officers driving around and responding to calls/emergencies. The VCPD works very hard to help protect Ventnor and the people who live and/or visit here. At the moment, the VCPD has a total of three female officers, with the rest being male. This is not surprising, since being a police officer is seen as being a “man’s job.” In the United States men greatly outnumber women when it comes to having a career in law enforcement. On the website, Statista, it shows the percentage of gender distribution of full-time law enforcement employees in the United States in 2021. On the graph it shows that when it came to law-enforcement employees there were a total of 72.2% males and 27.8% females. When it came to actual officers, the percentage of men increased to 86.7% and the percentage of women decreased to 13.3%.
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For this project I decided the best way to get the perspective of what female officers experience, especially the VCPD female officers, was to interview female officers. I even had the opportunity to interview a male officer from the VCPD as well who was able to give me his perspective of what it is like to work with female officers. Below you will find all three interviews:
Officer Burns:
1.) Why did you want to become a police officer?
“I was driven to become a police officer as long as I can remember. I grew up in a LE (Law Enforcement) family beginning with my grandfather as well as my father and uncle. I always saw police in a positive light as posed and able to take on anything the world threw at them. I have a natural desire to help people which made the choice to become a police officer an easy one for me.”
1a.) What inspired you?
“Mostly seeing the positive impact we are able to have on someone’s life. We have the opportunity to help someone on their worst day or try to change the view on policing that we are here to help.”
2.) When becoming an officer did you face any obstacles?
“The toughest obstacle I faced becoming an officer was acceptance by close friends or family. Most were supportive, however some weren’t or were fearful of what daily interactions I would possibly be having.”
3.) Do you still face any obstacles today?
“I think since I have started the job those obstacles have subsided.”
4.) How does it feel to work in a field that is mostly dominated by men?
“We have a really great department where I don’t ever feel treated different for being a female.”
4a.) Do other officers ever treat you differently?
“No.”
4b.) Does the public ever treat you differently?
“On occasion the public does treat female officers differently because it isn’t as common to see a female officer as it is male. Some have a preconceived notion of women in law enforcement but most encounters with those people seem to become positive by the end.”
5.) How can we inspire more girls/women to join the force?
“I think female officers speaking about the profession and why they chose it will definitely help. I think if female officers met with other females interested in a job in LE they would benefit form it.”
6.) What about being a police officer do you like the most?
“The opportunity to interact with the community and having the chance to help someone or make their life better.”
Officer Lamaine
1.) Why did you want to become a police officer? What inspired you?
Officer Lamaine was originally going to become a newscaster. She wanted to do something with Communications. Officer Lamaine had a few family members who were military, police, and/or state police officers. She wanted to be able to communicate with people and be on the streets. Officer Lamaine said she had a “change in what I felt,” which ultimately lead to her becoming a police officer.
2.) When becoming an officer did you face any obstacles? Do you still face any obstacles today?
Officer Lamaine was talking about the danger that comes along with being a police officer. She also mentioned the obstacle generally faced by female officers when it comes to children because the shifts are very long. For example, Officer Lamaine was explaining to me how the shifts for the VCPD work and how they are from either 7am-7pm or 7pm-7am. Officer Lamaine said that would be an obstacle when she becomes a mother.
3.) How does it feel to work in a field that is mostly dominated by men? Do other officers ever treat you differently? Does the public ever treat you differently?
Officer Lamaine said she expected to be belittled and thought she would have to prove herself as a female officer. She knows it is not really common to see female officers, as compared to male officers, especially since the VCPD only has three female officers at this time. Both Officer Lamaine and Officer Burns did make it very clear that they feel very supported and included by the rest of the VCPD family. However, they did mention that sometimes at the Police academy, the male instructors are sometimes harder on the females compared to the males.
4.) How can we inspire more girls/women to join the force?
Officer Lamaine said that by walking around the middle school, VECC (Ventnor Educational Community Complex), she not only hears young girls, but young children in general who tell her, “I want to be a cop!” She thinks it is a great idea to talk to the children and invite them to the police station so they have the opportunity to ask questions and get to see what it is like to be an officer. Both Officer Lamaine and Officer Burns also made it clear that they would encourage any child, not just young girls.
5.) What about being a police officer do you like the most?
Officer Lamaine was born and raised in Ventnor, so she feels like it is easy to socialize/communicate with the people. Officer Lamaine really likes engaging with the public and being able to talk to people.
Officer Newell
1.) Why did you want to become a police officer? What inspired you?
Officer Newell wanted to become a police officer because he wanted a job where he could help people. He likes that everyday is different, because you never know what’s in store. Officer Newell explained that one day there could be very little going on and then one day it is nonstop. Officer Newell also likes that it’s a job that involves being on your feet and not sitting at an office desk. Similar to Officers Burns and Lamaine, Officer Newell also had family members who were police officers.
2.) How do you feel about working alongside female officers?
To quote Officer Newell, “Totally fine!” Officer Newell was telling me that both Officer Burns and Officer Lamaine are good friends of his and that they are the best. Officer Lamaine is even on the Union Board with Officer Newell. Officer Newell said that working with female officers is no different then working besides male officers.
3.) Do you think females can make good officers? Why or why not?
To this question, Officer Newell responded, “Absolutely they can!” He touched on the common misconception that people may have about female officers possibly being seen as small and/or unable to do the work. However, he said that policing is a job where the person next to you, man or woman, may have to save your life. He said that everyone (police) have to trust each other with one another’s life.
4.) Have you ever treated a female officer differently then a male officer? If yes, how? If not, have you ever seen it done by another male officer?
Officer Newell made it very clear that he has never treated a female officer differently then a male officer. He has also never seen it done by other male officers in the VCPD. Officer Newell explained to me that the VCPD is very “tight knit” and everyone is friends with each other.
5.) Do you think more should be done to encourage girls/young women to become officers?
Once again to quote Officer Newell, “Absolutely!” Officer Newell recognizes that there are way less women in law enforcement compared to men and thinks more should be done to encourage girls/young women to become officers. Officer Newell also informed me that around the county, there has actually been an increase in women police officers.
The key objectives for my SDG project were to encourage young girls and women to become police officers. My project’s goal is to support girls and women who decide they want to pursue a career in law enforcement. I also wanted to bring awareness to the lack of female officers and help start a conversation that could help lead to positive change, such as an increase of females in law enforcement.
The anticipated impact of my project is to have more women join the VCPD by bringing attention to the small number of female officers Ventnor currently has. I would also like my project to help get the ball rolling on possible programs the VCPD and/or other police departments can offer to the community and/or schools. For example, on the TV show, Chicago Fire, a female character named Stella, created a program called Girls On Fire. This program’s goal was to help and encourage young women to become firefighters since just like police officers, firefighters are typically male. Overall, I just want young girls and women to know that they can do anything, like becoming officers, and although it may not be easy and people may say it’s not possible, it definitely is. If there were programs to support young girls and women to fulfill their dream of becoming officers and more police departments like the VCPD, where females are treated equally, I think the number of female officers would significantly increase.
The impact of my SDG project will not happen overnight and will definitely need time. Although it may be harder to measure the impact of my project in the world, since I cannot be everywhere, it will be easy to measure back at home in Ventnor. This has to do with the fact that Ventnor is pretty small and it would be easy to see if new female officers were added to the VCPD. My neighbor also has two grandsons in the VCPD so I could always ask her as well.
I hope my SDG inspires at least one girl and/or women to become a police officer. Not because they feel pressured from my project, but because they truly want to be a police officer and this project just made them more sure of themselves and/or inspired them to follow their dream!
I would also like to give a big thank you to Officer Burns, Officer Lamaine, and Officer Newell who took the time to answer my questions for my project!
