AURORA, Colo. — It's been 116 years since the first woman police officer was sworn onto the job. More than a century later, women make up only 12% of sworn officers and just 3% of police leadership.
To help change that, the Aurora Police Department (APD) is joining dozens of others nationwide in joining the 30x30 initiative.
"Just keep pushing through, every day," said Alicia Pour, a recruit for Aurora Police.
It's back to class for APD's newest class of recruits. Each day brings a new challenge.
"So much. A lot of running," Pour said. "Lot of tests."
She's putting in long days of hard work, hoping to make it to the end of the 26-week program to become an officer with Aurora Police.
"Well, I think every day it's like, am I going to make it?" Pour said, laughing.
She's one of five women in her recruit class. She worried that joining a male-dominated field would be tricky.
"It's definitely intimidating," Pour said. "Initially, I wanted to be a police officer several years ago but the culture had shifted so much that I didn't feel I would fit in. Then Aurora, unlike other departments, just started making all these different changes and shifting their culture, then I was like, 'That's where I want to be, that's what I want to do.'"
It hasn't always been this way.
"I think representation really matters," said Sgt. Faith Goodrich, Aurora Police Department.
Sgt. Goodrich has been with APD for 17 years. Starting out, she said, there were far fewer women on the force.
Still, APD was luckier than most, Goodrich said, with female role models even in leadership.
"I did have that fear of being judged or being thought of as less than because I'm a woman. But I didn't run into that here and that was really special because I've talked to a lot of women in other agencies across the country. And here in Aurora, there is a place for women. If you come in and you work hard, we've got space for you," Sgt. Goodrich said.
Now, the department is committing to a national initiative to increase the number of women on the force. Called 30x30, APD is on the path now to reach police recruit classes of at least 30% women by the year 2030.
It's a daunting task.
"Currently, 12% of the Aurora Police Department is women. In our academy that is in class right now, that's 17%. So we're on our way to raising that number," Goodrich said.
And Pour said APD joining the 30x30 initiative is what convinced her to become a recruit. Feeling that support from the women already here convinces her to stay.
"I know that there was this really tough day that we had and I was struggling physically," Pour said. "And there were just female officers over me, rooting me on, and in that moment you don't think anyone is rooting you on. And I just happened to look up and there they were, just crowding over me. And I was like 'Okay, I can do this. You did it, I can do it, too.'"
That support is something she relies on every day just as others in her recruit class rely on her.
"But here, we're all we've got. And so when we're kind of rooting each other on and you look and it's another woman. It just gives you another boost of 'I can do this,'" Pour said.
She hopes to one day be a comfort, not just to future female recruits but to the women out in the community she'll serve, helping to lift them up just as others here have done for her.
"That support is, it's invaluable," Pour said.
More reporting by Rachael Krause:
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