{"id":23078,"date":"2023-03-13T14:25:49","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T18:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2023\/03\/13\/necc-police-academy-doubles-state-average-for-female-student-officers\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:30:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:30:27","slug":"necc-police-academy-doubles-state-average-for-female-student-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/03\/13\/necc-police-academy-doubles-state-average-for-female-student-officers\/","title":{"rendered":"NECC Police Academy Doubles State Average for Female Student Officers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each student officer who completes training at the Northern Essex Police Academy has plenty of reasons to be proud. They survived cadence runs in all kinds of weather, endured pepper spray, memorized codes, and passed dozens of tests in their six months together- to name a few. But the student officers of ROC-03 who graduated on March 10 have another unique point of pride. More than a third of their class was comprised of women. At 34%, that is double the state average of women in police academies.<\/p>\n

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Student officers of ROC-03 share their experiences.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s 11 of us, and that\u2019s a huge number, but it\u2019s not even half the class. So, we walked in and wanted to prove ourselves right off the bat. And we did that,\u201d said Rachael Mini.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is held to the same standard, regardless of your abilities or gender,\u201d echoed Olivia Durgin. \u201cWe\u2019re all held to the same standard coming in, and all of the instructors do a great job of upholding that standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The women said they could tell how everyone in the academy benefited from having a diverse group with different perspectives. \u201cGoing through different scenarios, the guys are seeing how we might handle things and thinking, \u2018let me try that.\u2019 And we do the same. So, we feel like we\u2019re helping drive the way policing is going,\u201d said Corrine Woods.<\/p>\n

The student officers are first hired by local municipalities, who then send them to the academy. Now that they\u2019ve graduated, they\u2019ll return to those departments and start putting their training into practice.<\/p>\n

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Officers Rhiannon Ormsby and Rachael Mini prepare for a test scenario<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI came in not knowing what to expect,\u201d remembers Giana Berkowitz. And I could see, coming in here with these male student officers, they already respected us. And we tell them like it is. I can already tell from my experience here that it will go well at the department.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were never looked at differently. We were jumping all the same fences the guys were,\u201d said Brigitte Hamel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited, but it\u2019s also a bit sad,\u201d reflected Rhiannon Ormsby. \u201cThere are more women here than in the department I\u2019m going to. So, I\u2019ll miss this. We\u2019re like a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about the NECC Police Academy, contact Director Josh Stokel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\t\t