The face of policing is changing and people who call police for help are now as likely to see a female officer roll up to a call as much as a male officer.
That was the case on a recent Friday night, June 28, when a scheduling coincidence led C Platoon that covers North Delta, to be composed of entirely of female officers.
That night, the platoon was nicknamed “she platoon,” and a few photos were taken to mark the occasion.
Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord said it was a busy night and the officers had good results in the way they responded to all the calls.
“It was the first time I’ve seen, in my career anyway, the whole deployment on one part of our city with female officers,” said Dubord.
The all-female team however was owing to just the way the shift scheduling worked out. The North Delta squad bested their South Delta counterparts in a friendly competition about workload.
“There was a little bit of competition on who could take the most calls and who was the busiest on that particular evening and the North Delta team showed up the South Delta team,” Dubord said.
Most deployments have a mix of female and male officers.
Delta police is on a drive to recruit more female officers through its 30 by 30 Campaign.
That’s an initiative that aims to see female officers compose 30 per cent of the force by 2030.
“And that’s kind of what we’re working on right now and making sure that we have a strong contingent of women police officers because they offer so much different in the workplace,” said Dubord.
Currently, Delta Police Department has 49 officers composing 23 percent of the policing department.
He added that female officers have the ability to calm down a situation.
“It’s funny how they have the ability to de-escalate sometimes,” he said. “Our female officers have the ability to de-escalate situations because of their demeanours, because they’re less intimidating and sometimes, just the way they connect and communicate.”
The female officers also look after their fellow workmates as well, he added.
However, a diminutive police female officer responds to exactly the same type of calls as any other officer and they take on every task in the department.
“There are no situations or positions that we are not fully confident, 110 percent, that they can handle or manage,” Dubord said.
