This week TFC Haley Jo Lucas became the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) Aviation Division’s first female pilot in the history of the agency.
Ravelo was selected for this honor after she demonstrated selflessness in donating one of her kidneys to save the life of a friend’s young child.
For years the nationwide percentage of female law enforcement officers has hovered near 12%, now agencies are making a concerted effort to increase their sworn women officer demographics to 30% by 2030.
Susan Hutson ousted long-time sheriff, Marlin Gusman for the job, winning the run-off election back in December. Prior to being sheriff, Hutson served as the independent police monitor in New Orleans for more than a decade.
“The policing profession is historically male dominated. We have to acknowledge that, and we have to do everything in our power so that women feel welcomed from all walks of life and all cultures. Those are intentional conversations we had when we launched 30x30,” says Capt. Gene Lim, part of the CMPD recruiting division.
“So, we’ve got women at the highest level of leadership, and they are pushing their peers to do this. But what’s more important is the number of male chiefs that have come forward to take this pledge. If we just focused on only the female chiefs, we wouldn’t achieve this."
Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said that by joining dozens of other departments in the “30 x 30 Pledge” — an initiative meant to encourage increasing the percentage of female officers in recruiting classes to 30 percent by 2030 — he wants to make D.C. police “the most equitable agency for women in the law enforcement field.”
If policing was an Olympic sport, there is no doubt that Team USA would be standing atop the Medal stand, taking honors for gold, silver, and bronze—and America's female forces would be right there among the victors on the world stage.
Kat Ratcliff knew she wanted to be a police officer from a very early age, but following the protests and anti-police sentiment in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, she determined that the best course of action for her and her family was to put that lifelong desire to be in the ranks of law enforcement to the side.
Kaylee Smith is the newest officer with the Dunlap (TN) Police Department and may be the first female officer to work for the agency, according to a post on Facebook.
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