Career survival: The evolution of a police column for women

EmailPrintTalk BackRegisterRSSWhat's This

Career Survival with Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith

My column is undergoing a bit of an identity crisis. I’ve been writing for the Street Survival “Newsline” and the P1 Newsletter for several years.  As a “Street Survival seminar instructor, I write about officer safety and survival, but I’m also a supervisor, a mom, a trainer, a cop’s wife, and dare I say, a woman, so I’ve got a lot to say about any number of topics (what woman doesn’t?!), and I’ve always received great feedback from our readers.  So when Police One approached me and asked me to author a monthly column dealing with women’s issues, I enthusiastically agreed. “What a great opportunity” I naively thought “to bring issues to light that both women and men in law enforcement could all relate to, perhaps discuss at roll call, and ultimately learn something from each other.” 

Yeah, just call me Sergeant Pollyanna…I forgot that by calling it a “women’s” column, not only will most of our male readers skip over it, but so will at least half our female readers. What?! Why in the world wouldn’t women read a “women’s” column?!  Because, there are a lot of female crimefighters out there like me who have spent a lot of years just trying to blend in, to be “one of the guys” if you will…to be perceived as and conduct ourselves as “warriors,” not “victims.”  We don’t want special treatment; we just want to be cops.

We had a similar problem when we first brought “Street Survival for Women” onto the market. "Why do women need their own survival seminar?" we were asked by both men and women. "Aren’t all cops supposed to be equal?" In a perfect world, perhaps…but in the real world, it just isn’t so. Scientific facts about gender differences are hard to dispute, so instead we researched them, embraced them, explained them, and applied them to tactics, leadership, relationships, and many other topics of interest to both genders, and all ranks.  Today, "Street Survival for Women" is the third most-attended Calibre Press seminar around the nation, and the audience is filled with both women and men; cops, dispatchers, chiefs, spouses, trainers, and supervisors who really do spend time learning about each other, our strengths and weaknesses, and how to not only survive, but how to truly thrive in our chosen career. 

So we are calling this column "Career Survival," and every month I’m going to talk about something that I guarantee will be of interest to ALL of our readers. I’m going to make you laugh, I’ll probably make you cry, I may even make you mad once in awhile, but I promise that every single month I am going to make you THINK; and I’m going to give you a great topic for discussion at roll call, at the dinner table, in your next management meeting, or at the local cop watering hole. Because if there is one thing that both male and female cops both have in common, we ALL love to talk!  Besides, "it's a women's prerogative to change her mind." In fact, I think that’s a scientific fact.  Let me look into that and I’ll get back you. . .

Sergeant Betsy Smith has nearly 30 years of law enforcement experience, and she currently serves as a patrol supervisor in a Chicago suburb. A graduate of the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety's School of Staff and Command, Betsy is a police trainer, author and instructor for the Calibre Press Street Survival Seminar. She can be reached at betsybrantner@aol.com.

EmailPrintTalk BackRegisterRSSWhat's This