Hartford’s Adds Two Only Female Police Officers Break Stereotypes

Women police officers are scarce throughout the nation and in Hartford there are only two active female police officers, but with more representation of women throughout the force, the numbers are growing.

According to the website Statista, in the nation the female full time law-enforcement officers make up 12.8 percent of the entire nation’s police force meaning that the male police officers outweigh the females by almost seven times.

Chief Scott Macfarlan agreed that police tend to, “A male dominated field, but more females are applying. Anyone can do this job.”

The females that are a part of the Hartford Police Department are officer Kali Reiman and officer Amanda Naukkari. Reiman was sworn in 2018 and Naukkari in 2017. The two women are the only female police officers in the Hartford Police Department.

“Both female officers have a calm presence,” Macfarlan said. “They are never agitated. They have patience and are professional.”

The process of becoming a police officer has excessive training that prepares the officers for the new normal of the job. Both women have their share of challenges with the life of a police officer.

“I work night shift, so I have to adjust to sleeping during the day,” Reiman said. “I had to readjust my sleeping schedule on my days off days to coordinate with my family. I have to miss celebrating holidays with my family. I have to come in on my days off if there is an important call.”

Along with the challenges of sacrificing time with family and a normal sleeping schedule, the officers have to preform multiple tasks throughout their shifts that would seem to be overwhelming.

Naukkari said, “Throughout a shift I enforce traffic violations, respond to calls for service, focus on community relations, enforce state and local ordinances, patrol city, and complete reports.”

The job that both women have is no different to any of the male police officers in the department. Both mention how they see no difference between the male and female officers during the job.

“My advice for a female for who is interested in law enforcement is if you are passionate about the job go for it,” Reiman said. “Don’t let the idea of working in a male dominated field scare you away. You don’t have to be the strongest or the fastest, you just have to be a good communicator.”

There may be challenges when thinking about becoming a police officer as a female, but when an officer is hired it is because they were qualified for the job, regardless if they are a female or not.

TV shows and movies have been showing females in police uniforms and in combat. Having the increase of powerful roles for women gives hope of having more females represented in law enforcement.

“I grew up watching the show Cops with my dad,” Reiman said. “I think that is what sparked my interest in law enforcement.”

The influence of entertainment media can be a huge impact on a person’s future and for Officer Reiman it is what gave her interest in the police force.

At the moment, the percentage of women applicants is low compared to males, but it has been proven in Hartford and nationwide that when gender stereotypes are set aside, women police officers are hired based on their abilities rather than making the industry more diverse. Officers Reiman and Naukkari can perform their jobs with both professionalism and respectability which shows that anyone can be a police officer.