Wheat Ridge Police Department Patrol Sergeant Jamie Watson’s journey starts with a TV show she used to watch all the time as a child – “Get Christy Love!”, a show about a female detective.
“When I saw what she did, and the power she had, and how she handled herself, I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do! I want to be a police officer,’” said Watson.
Sgt. Watson is now living out that childhood dream. She’s been with the Wheat Ridge Police Department for 23 years.
“I love meeting somebody that this may be the worst day of their life, and I get to help them change that or have an impact on that,” said Watson.
Right now, just below 20% of the Wheat Ridge Police Department’s sworn personnel are women.
The Wheat Ridge Police Department wants 30% of its police force to be women by the year 2030, a commitment to the nationwide 30×30 Initiative to recruit more women and increase representation in sworn officer roles.
Currently, women make up only 12% of sworn officers and 3% of police leadership in the U.S.