Two Women Making Their Mark On Bethel Police Force

In a field that has been dominated by men for so long, that even the word describing the job was male driven, "Policeman." Well, now that's all changing for the better in Bethel.

The Bethel Police announced late last week that two of the three promotions being given this year were earned by women.

Two of the standouts in Bethel are Heather Burns, an 18-year veteran, who was promoted to lieutenant, and Courtney Whaley, who was recently promoted to sergeant.

Right now in Bethel, six of the thirty eight officers are women, and Capt. Stephen Pugner, a spokesman for the Bethel Police Department, told newstimes.com that the numbers have been shifting in recent years:

As time goes on the number of women in our department and other departments in the area has been on the rise, and I think a lot of that is because we are seeing more women applying for jobs in law enforcement.”

Heather Burns who is the first women in Bethel's history to be promoted to the position of lieutenant had this to say to newstimes.com about the role women have now taken in law enforcement:

There was this fear in the past of joining law enforcement because it was a male dominated industry, but it’s not so dominant anymore. I’ve had several parents approach me and say their children never thought about law enforcement before but are now expressing an interest in the career. I think seeing more women in uniform, especially in leadership positions, is a big help.

By the way, Officer Vincent Lajoie, also shown in the picture above, was also recently promoted to sergeant within the department and will be sworn in along with Heather and Courtney during a ceremony on Thursday.

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