Law enforcement has always been a male dominated profession. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a federal agency in the United States, women account for less than 15% of local police officers.
In her 15 years of working at the Wyoming Police Department, retired Officer Michelle Ritzema went undercover, instructed officer field training, taught taser and fighting techniques and worked regular patrol.
“I think we are seeing a trend nationally where women are working their way up the ranks to leadership roles,” Ritzema said. “I feel women in administrative roles here in West Michigan are outstanding.”
In 2018, Michelle LaJoye-Young became the Sheriff of Kent County. She is the first ever woman to do so. Her leadership reflects West Michigan’s female officer population, which is higher than the national average by about 2.1%.
Although the number of women wearing a badge is still significantly low, it has grown a considerable amount since 1980, when they only accounted for 5% of officers nationally, according to a study done in 2011.
Female officers often have to deal with more obstacles in their careers than their male counterparts.
If women in law enforcement decide to get married and have a family, they must plan their future in a way that allows them to spend about a year away from a physically demanding and time consuming job.
“Males can join law enforcement, get married and start having kids and it affects them minimally,” Kent County Deputy Krystal Stuart said. “Women have to go on light duty for 10 months if we get pregnant, and then we have to take 8-10 weeks off postpartum.”
The Sparta Police Department hired Stuart in 2007, but 7 years later she decided to move to Kent County in order to change her hours and start a family with her husband, who worked for the Grand Rapids Police Department.
If Stuart had continued to work for Sparta, she would have had to alternate 12 hour shifts with her husband until retirement. This would mean being a part time parent for her two children.
Stuart is currently the only female dual-purpose K-9 handler in the Kent County Community Police unit. This means her four-legged partner, Axel, is trained in criminal apprehensions, drugs and explosives.
A thick skin unfortunately doesn’t come with the tool belt. However, officers must wear them on the job.
“You’ll get smart remarks like ‘Isn’t there supposed to be a height restriction if you’re a police officer?’” Stuart said. “I can hold my own. My partners know that, I know that and I don’t care what you think.”
Both Ritzema and Stuart believe that there are advantages to having male and female officers working together. Stuart explains how she is able to talk down agitated males much easier than her male partners when they come up on scene.
“The differences in the way that males and females often problem solve a situation is utilized daily in law enforcement,” Ritzema said. “Additionally, it is not uncommon for a person reporting a crime, child abuse or criminal sexual conduct to feel more comfortable speaking to a male or a female.”
Women are valuable in law enforcement. This being said, no one is really to blame for the fact that women are in the minority.
Stuart has concerns about departments specifically recruiting female candidates. Instead, she believes that growth must occur through women who have a passion to work in law enforcement.
Stuart also feels that they need to be cops that happen to be female, not just token female cops.
“I have to back up my male partners and I need to defend myself out there too,” Stuart said. “I think a lot of the women in law enforcement go into it with that mindset not necessarily to prove ourselves, but so we can be just as helpful when responding to incidents.”
Ritzema and Stuart are both inspiring examples of women that pushed themselves to succeed in what they love with the support of their community and police department.
It’s important to remember that men and women in law enforcement just like Ritzema and Stuart are just people that have made a brave choice to protect their communities.
is currently the only female dual-purpose K-9
handler in the Kent County Community Police unit.
“Sometimes they see the uniform and it’s almost like we’re robots,” Stuart said. “We’re humans as well. We all have stories. Every police officer that you run into has a backstory.”
