Eight female members of the Belleville Police Service pose for a photo after the “Women in Policing” event Wednesday Nov, 20. Photo by Sam Franks
By Sam Franks
BELLEVILLE – Around 30 women gathered for an informative evening on different careers within policing on Wednesday Nov. 20, at the Belleville Police Service station on Sidney Street.
The “Women in Policing” event is an initiative created to promote diversity in the police service. This is the fourth time it’s been held by the Belleville police service.
Deputy Chief, Sheri Meeks led the event.
“We needed to create an activity that could recruit more females, because obviously, females in policing are not the dominant, like we are not the dominant number,” Meeks said.
Deputy Chief, Sheri Meeks, of the Belleville Police Service. Photo by Sam Franks
According to Statistics Canada, women represent less than a quarter of police officers.
Meeks said that when she first started policing almost 29-years ago the national average was even less.
“We were trying to figure out a way to bring up the representation of females in policing, and what better way than to hold an event and encourage young people and older people to sign up and come and see what a career in policing looks like.”
“It’s proven that the actual event is encouraging more and more females to apply in a career in policing,” Meeks said.
The event was exciting for first-year police foundations student, Regan Malcolm.
Malcolm graduates next year and is trying to get more information about what the career entails.
Malcolm wants to see more women enter traditionally male dominated careers, like policing.
“It’s male dominated, so I think it’s good to have more of a 50/50,” Malcolm said.
Which is an approach deputy chief Meeks shares.
“It’s really important that our service reflect the community that we’re serving and we bring those same perspectives to the table,” Meeks said.
Deputy Chief, Sheri Meeks speaks to the crowd of 30 women explaining her career in policing. Photo by Sam Franks
The population of Belleville is nearly split in half between female and male identities, according to the latest census.
Meeks explained to the crowd that she hopes female representation is up to 30 per-cent by the year 2030.
This was good news for another woman who attended the event and asked that her name not be used.
“Policing was something I was always interested in. I do think that my education and my work background kind of align with a position like this – so I’m seeing where this will bring me,” she said.
She says she has attended the “Women in Policing” events before and has even gone through parts of the hiring process, but did not pass the physical test.
She is determined to pursue a career in policing to help her community.
“I think [women] are one of the least represented in policing so it’s nice to see there’s a lot of hiring initiatives right now for women. It’s nice to see this kind of a turn out as well,” she said.
In October, the Ontario government announced the expansion of the Basic Constable Training (BCT) by enrolling 80 more aspiring police officers to the Ontario Police College (OPC). This means that over 2,000 more new recruits can enroll every year.
Special Constable, Taylor Wightman hopes this will bring more female officers to the force.
Special Constable, Taylor Wightman stands against a white wall in the holding cells where she works. Photo by Sam Franks
“Women can do the exact same thing men can do so I think it’s super important that there’s a good balance between the two,” Wightman said.
“[We’re] dealing with men and women everyday and a very diverse population so being able to talk one-on-one with maybe one of the women you’re working with, you get a better sense of what they’re going through and being able to give a better experience for them as well,” she said.
Having more women on the service can make for an easier experience for female offenders, victims and civilians.
Wightman said that she originally wanted to work in border security but after participating in the events and volunteering she wanted to serve the city she grew up in.
Throughout the night multiple officers explained components of the intimidating hiring processes – highlighting the importance of the fitness requirements.
“Don’t give up if it doesn’t work out for you. Personally, I’ve been through multiple processes where it did and didn’t. If you keep trying, that just means that you really want it, and for me getting onto auxiliary and getting the experience led me to a path where I fell in love with a job,” Wightman said.
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