Three female Jacksonville officers work the same shift for the first time in cityʼs history
Story and Photo By Ben Cox
Photo Above : JPD patrol officers (from left to right) Rosa Speaker, Lesley McNeely and Katy Bettis stand in front of a squad car at the Jacksonville Police Department. All three worked the same shift recently for several weeks, marking the first time a majority female shift occurred at the Jacksonville Police Department.
Women make up less than 14% of sworn officers and 20% of recruits in state and local law enforcement agencies across the nation.
The Jacksonville Police Department recently saw a first in helping to push those numbers higher. Three female patrol officers worked the same shift for the very first time over the last year. JPD patrol officers Katy Bettis, Lesley McNeely and Rosa Speaker worked the same shift for approximately five weeks.
The Jacksonville Police Department has had women come through the ranks starting in the 1970s but has never seen a nearly all-female shift before. There have been just a small number of times in the past where three officers have been on the force at the same time, but having three on the same shift is a new feat.
Officer Bettis, who is the longest tenured officer of the three, says she went into law enforcement because many of the men in her family are in law enforcement: “I fell in love with a class while I was in college that made me really lean toward law enforcement. Most of my family is in law enforcement so I grew up around it.”
Officer McNeely wanted to originally go to work for the Conservation Police due to her love of animals. “I remember watching North Woods Law [on television],” McNeely laughs, “I thought that was the coolest thing ever because Iʼm an outdoors person. I see that there arenʼt a lot of women who do this, so I thought it would be cool to represent women in that way. When women get in trouble, they donʼt really want to talk to men because thatʼs normally who they get victimized by. I want to send out that message, too, so that you donʼt have to be afraid to talk to us.” McNeely says that even some men request to speak to lady officers because they have had a better experience than in the past with some of their male counterparts.
Officer Speaker says she sought out the profession due to a positive interaction she had with police officers when she was growing up in the White Hall area. “My familyʼs house burnt down when I was in elementary school,” Speaker explains, “That was the first positive interaction I had with first responders that I had ever had. Before that, it was the threat of, ʻOh thereʼs a cop over there,ʼ and they are going to take you away if you donʼt behave yourself. Seeing not just firefighters but actual police officers run into danger and make sure youʼre safe from this burning house, that really drove something inside of me from Day One. I knew that I wanted to help just like that.” Speaker is used to breaking down barriers. She was one of the first female football players ever at North Greene High School.
All three say theyʼve experienced sexism and violence from suspects during patrol. “I would say it occurs almost daily. You experience a lot more on the night shift,” Bettis says, “At least in my time, it occurs a lot more on nights than it does during the day.”
On the other hand, they say theyʼve found the reaction from the community while responding to calls has been positive. “I work with kids,” McNeely says, “We do the teen police academy in June and we have the cadet program that weʼve started. Itʼs really fun to work with them and see how much theyʼve grown since Iʼve known them.”
All three say that neighbors and community members have approached them with their young children and high school students to introduce their children to women in law enforcement in the community.
“If youʼre in a bigger city like Chicago or Springfield even, you see a little bit more women police officers. Here thereʼs normally just one or two,” Bettis says, “Me and Olivia [Mefford] were it for quite awhile. Then, we had officer Gaines and officer Saxer. Then, it was officer McNeely and then, officer Speaker. Weʼve never had more than three or four at one time. Never more than three on one shift.”
Bettis says the reaction was very apparent from community members when all three would respond to a call, with many not realizing there were that many female law enforcement officers in the city. McNeely uses these community interactions to encourage more women to join law enforcement.
For the future of the department, they would like to see a female officer eventually make the move up into administration.
Speaker, being the newest member of the force, says she would like to see women in the police department continuing to bust through ceilings and see some in administration: “That means we need more recruits and new female hires. It wonʼt be just about showing them how to be an officer but showing them what they can achieve and change in the community. Somebody has to be that change.”
National Police Week will be celebrated across the country May 11-17.
