TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa Police Department’s newest class of cadets are in their second week of the academy.
But across the country – the police force is predominantly male.
Every cadet in the Tulsa Police Academy comes from a different background.
But they’ve all ended up here in the same place.
And they each joined the force for different reasons.
“I thought about being a lawyer for a little bit,” says TPD APO, Kyler Goins. “I drove by QT at 71st and Memorial and saw multiple female officers and that kind of inspired me and I was like, I want to do that.”
“I had plans of being a child protective service agent,” says Melanie Ramirez, TPD APO. “So I had no plans of coming into law enforcement.”
About 18% of officers at the Tulsa Police Department are women. The nationwide average is 12 percent.
Out of the 21 cadets in the Tulsa Police Department’s newest academy class, nine of them are women.
Making this class the highest percentage of women in recent years.
“If they never saw that growing up, I think it could be a good inspiration and just being a role model for a community as a whole,” says TPD APO Moriah Weckhors.
Cadet Ramirez says she’s proud also to be representing another minority group, the Hispanic community.
The lead defensive tactics instructor, who is also a female, says she enjoys having contact with the female cadets as a lead trainer.
“Females are kind of hesitant, or they’re worried about physical skills or physical defense and things, and so I think being able to be in my position can help them get the confidence they need,” says Sgt. Ashley Kite.
Another class of cadets preparing to serve the community – and maybe inspire others.
“If a little girl sees me, I hope she gets inspired by me being out there and knows she can do it. If I can do it, she can do it,” says APO Ramirez.
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