Women rising is Bethel Police Department
BETHEL — More women have risen to leadership positions in local law enforcement departments at a time when more females are entering the field.
In Bethel, two of the three promotions announced last week were earned by women.
Heather Burns, with more than 18 years of experience, was promoted to lieutenant, and Courtney Whaley was promoted to sergeant. Officer Vincent Lajoie was promoted to sergeant and will be sworn in during a ceremony on Thursday.
“As time goes on the number of women in our department and other departments in the area has been on the rise,” said Capt. Stephen Pugner, a spokesman for the Bethel Police. “And I think a lot of that is because we are seeing more women applying for jobs in law enforcement.”
Six of Bethel’s 38 officers are women.
“When I started around 15 years ago, the recruits were almost exclusively male,” said Thomas Flaherty, administrator of the state’s police academy. “But there has been a real sea change. With every new class we are seeing more. and more women.”
In a recent class of 50 recruits, about 15 were women, he said.
“There was this fear in the past of joining law enforce- ment because it was a male dominated industry,” said Burns, who was the first woman in Bethel’s history to be promoted to lieutenant. “But it’s not so dominant anymore.”
Burns said she believes careers in law enforcement have become more attractive to women because of the job security, the ability to help others in the community and equal pay.
Burns and Whaley said girls seeing more women in uniform is a benefit. The officers had worked in the schools, and said they often had girls coming up to them asking about the career.
“I’ve had several parents approach me and say their children never thought about law enforcement before but are now expressing an interest in the career,” she said. “I think seeing more women in uniform, especially in leadership positions, is a big help.”
Whaley praised Burns for paving the way in the department for her and other women coming up through the ranks.
“We all bring something different to the table, but Burns has an amazing skill set and watching her progress through the department over the years has really been inspiring,” she said. “It’s helped me to see what path my career could take.”