‘It’s been exciting to watch our numbers grow’
State Police look to bolster ranks of female troopers
When Detective Rachael Van Ness joined the State Police 18 years ago, she was hard pressed to find another woman at the training sessions.
She’s now one of several at these events.
“It’s exciting to watch our numbers grow,” said Van Ness, who works in major crimes at Troop A in Southbury.
It’s a sign that more women are joining, though they’re still very much a minority within the department — one of the reasons for the latest recruitment campaign that encourages women to apply to be a trooper.
“It’s to help get them in the door,” said Trooper First Class Kelly Grant. “We know more are interested, but might not know how to get started.”
Growing force
Women account for about 9.3 percent of the 920 or so sworn personnel in the department. They are spread out fairly evenly between the state’s 11 troops and are assigned based on where they live. That percentage was 7.9 percent five years ago and 6.9 percent 10 years ago.
“We are few and far between,” Grant said. “It’s been a male dominated field for years.”
Trooper Mary Kate Hayes said she was one of two women when she started at Troop G in Bridgeport 18 years ago and one of four now at Troop A in Southbury.
“The numbers have improved,” she said. “They’ve increased over the past few decades.”
Several say this is better than about 20 years ago, but Grant said that number has fluctuated since women were first able to become troopers in 1976. She said when she joined 18 ago, there were more women than today.
Grant said the state police isn’t alone in this recruitment effort and other agencies around Connecticut are also trying to attract more female recruits.
She said the dangers of the job, how the profession is depicted on social media, television and in film might have deterred women from applying in the past.
But Trooper First Class Jessica Genest said the job is nothing like that and there are so many different avenues to pursue, including major crimes, the K-9 unit, patrol and forensics.
Everyone starts as a trooper and after three years, they can start taking on different assignments.
On the team
Grant said when the first women joined the State Police they had to work hard to prove themselves. Today’s female troopers say they’re just like their male colleagues and are widely supported within the department.
“It’s no different than a man,” said Genest who graduated from the academy in 2008 as one of seven women out of a class of about 70. “I think we all have strengths.”
All said the academy has equipped them to handle any part of their job and everyone backs each other up.
“I don’t come to work all day and think of myself as a woman against men,” Van Ness said. “We’re a team.”
She said it’s good to have a diverse force, especially in major crimes when they’re interacting with the public.
“Having both men and women in this capacity is really a blessing because someone as a victim might only respond to one gender or another,” Van Ness said, adding children tend to respond better to women or a sexual assault victim might be more comfortable with a female trooper asking questions.
Trooper First Class Mary Kate Hayes said she’s never felt illequipped and has a strong support system both at Troop G in Bridgeport where she started and then with Troop A in Southbury, where she is based now.
“Because you’re really relying on each other, and sometimes your life depends on it, it makes it a tight-knit group of people,” she said.
Van Ness said the department has always been supportive. She was able to switch to light duty when she became pregnant and the department was accommodating when case calls came late at night when her children were young.
Van Ness’s husband started at Troop A and is now an officer with the Southbury Police Department. Both came from out of state, and so would rely on neighbors and friends to help watch their children if she had to go out to an overnight call while he was working.
She said it goes both ways and she’s watched colleagues’ children or she arrives first with the understanding the other detective will get there when they can if they have a family commitment.
“That’s part of our community,” she said. “We understand schedules and we help out.”
A calling
There’s no standard way for how the female troopers were drawn to the State Police. Some considered and held other careers before joining while others had envisioned serving with the State Police for years.
All agreed that it was a calling though.
“This is not a 9-5 job,” Van Ness said. “Policing is 100 percent a calling. You have to want to do what’s right.”
Van Ness comes from a family involved with civil service, which planted the seed early on that she wanted to give back. Her father was a firefighter and two brothers are police officers in New Jersey. She saw the recruitment flier when she graduated from Quinnipiac University and applied, knowing this was her dream job.
She’s served on patrol, as a school resource officer and now as a detective in major crimes.
Genest also knew she wanted to be in law enforcement for the variety in her day and not having to sit at a desk. Growing up in a house with German Shepherds also cemented her desire to be a K-9 trooper, which she did in 2014, teaming up with Asher.
“That was my dream position,” she said, adding she’s able to be on patrol and then respond for a variety of K-9 tasks, like search and rescues. “I love the job.”
Even when she spent a short time as an art director, she couldn’t shake the desire to join law enforcement and sought out the State Police.
Neither Grant nor Hayes envisioned a career as a trooper.
Grant originally wanted to be a nurse, but changed her mind while taking the required science courses at the University of Connecticut. She instead earned a degree in sociology, and when she couldn’t find a specific career in that and wasn’t interested in more schooling, she picked up several different jobs, including as a dispatcher for Naugatuck Police.
Hayes had planned to go to graduate school for psychology but took the State Police test after graduating.
“It kind of took me by surprise that I ended up doing it,” she said.
She said she’s enjoyed the job, but said it’s important to have the desire in your heart because the training can be difficult.
“I would encourage anyone who has a desire to pursue it and not give up,” Hayes said.