Several Mississippi law enforcement agencies pledge to increase gender representation among police

At the University of Mississippi Medical Center, campus police are hosting a training seminar for recruiting, hiring and retaining women in law enforcement.

Campus police have partnered with the advocacy group 30 x 30 to host the conference and discuss the need for gender representation in law enforcement. Chief of Police Mary Paradis says a diverse police force can better connect with the community they serve.

“If a victim of a crime was a female or a child, there was a natural attraction to a matronly figure. And so I realized that at a very young age,” says Paradis. “When a young female and I meet out in the community, and they say ‘wow, I didn’t know you could be a police lady,’ and I say ‘You see me, you can be me.’”

One of the largest barriers to women in law enforcement is how the job isn’t accommodating to pregnancy. Chief Paradis says the agencies that are attending this conference are working together to find solutions to those hurdles.

Chief Paradis says that includes “How do we develop best practices? What’s working for one agency, may not have been attempted by another agency. So we’re sharing best practices and we’re learning from each other.”

There is a shortage of law enforcement officers in Mississippi, but experts say investing in staff and routinely keeping them trained at the top of their field is a strong way to grow improve retention.