YES, I WAS A POLICE OFFICER

The young woman in the picture above was 24 years old--a lifetime ago :).  I graduated from the Raleigh, NC, Police Academy, one of only two women in the class.  Somewhere I have a photo of all of us, lined up in our caps and uniforms; if I find it, I will post it later.  The graduation was on local TV stations, because back in the day it was an unusual career choice for women.

In the academy, we had classroom training, which involved knowing the laws and ordinances, we had experts come in and share their knowledge with us, and yes, we had to take and pass tests!  I had the highest academic average of our class, a distinction that I'm sure nobody else recalls all these years later.



We learned to direct traffic, first by classroom instruction, and later by going out with instructors and actually directing traffic.  People nearly ran off the road when they saw females doing this back then.  We had classes on safety, including some karate.  I was placed with a young recruit who was far more nervous than I, afraid that he would hurt me.  I'll never know if he "let" me flip him over or if I actually did it on my own, but he took quite a verbal beating from the other guys! 

We studied illegal drugs.  ATF regulations.  City code.  State law.  And more.



We also had to qualify for firearm training, which included taking apart, cleaning, and reassembling our weapons.  And no, if a pile of parts were left over, one did not qualify!  We had to shoot targets well enough to pass, and I did it, much to the amazement of the men.

The physical training was the worst part for me.  I've never been the physical training type, and always hated PE in school.  I did well enough to get through it, but I didn't enjoy it at all.  Running, climbing, experiencing tear gas--not fun, but a necessary part of the job. 

My favorite part of the academy was giving a speech in the public speaking class.  I had already taught high school a couple of years, so I was way ahead of the others on that. 

I was a police officer for about a year; at that time, my husband was also a police officer, my brother-in-law was one, and my sister-in-law later became one.  I guess it was just a family thing.

I later returned to teaching, and it didn't hurt that my students knew I had been a police officer!  They peppered me with questions, of course, but they also did what I told them as well.  I was still young, but they didn't want to call my bluff.

Now, I look back fondly on the experience.  My fellow officers treated me well, although having a female as a fellow officer was a new thing.  No, I didn't shoot anyone, I didn't get involved in any high speed chases, or merely write parking tickets.  I was an officer, and I rode in a police car with a partner.  We did arrest people when necessary, wrote tickets, and went where dispatchers sent us. 

I remember being on duty for the Raleigh Christmas parade, considered a soft duty, but I had just recently graduated from the academy.  We had to keep people off the street and on the sidewalks for safety.  A large group of boisterous teenage boys seemed to believe that they were special and didn't have to get off the street.  I walked over to them, quaking inside, but told them to "Move back onto the sidewalk now!" delivered in my most imperious manner.  To my great surprise, they actually did, without any backtalk. 

Somehow my tenure there kept me out of harm's way, but I am thankful I got to serve in this way.  It's a tough job, and I found out that I wasn't cut out to do it for a career.  Our finest are on the line daily, protecting us.  I especially appreciate what they do.