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Female ranks swell at station

Holly ThompsonSound Telegraph
Some of the female officers at Rockingham Police Station.
Camera IconSome of the female officers at Rockingham Police Station. Credit: Holly Thompson/ Sound Telegraph

Female officers at Rockingham Police Station have grown in numbers over the years and play an important role in keeping the community safe.

Police officer Evie Hackett has worked at the station for about three months and said she had felt a lot of pressure to be just as good as her male counterparts while going through the police academy.

“It was challenging at first going through the academy and wanting to be as good as the boys and feeling like you need to prove yourself,” she said.

“In the stations though, there is no need for that because everyone is just so open to working with everyone, no matter what your gender,” she said.

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Officer Hackett said the attitudes of many people had changed surrounding female officers in the police force and it was normal to see female officers at the station.

“You do still experience more traditional views when you’re out on the street, people who think women shouldn’t be telling them what to do,” she said

“You then have the juxtaposition of the people who are more with today’s values and that really helps your confidence when dealing with people who don’t want to view you as any kind of authority.”

Rockingham Police Station officer-in-charge Sen. Sgt Neville Beard said he believed women played an important role in policing.

“Women have been involved in policing in Australia for over 100 years. We have come a long way since the 1970s when women officers had to resign if they decided to marry,” he said.

“We have a number of women police officers at Rockingham Station, many are working mothers with young families.

“In fact I have worked with many very capable police mums over the years and seen them use their ‘mum voice’ to quickly put hardened criminals or drunken louts into place in no uncertain terms. Our women are out there every day on the front line keeping the community safe.

“They are well trained and capable of meeting anything the community can throw at them.”

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