APD attempts to increase number of female police officers

Amy Pitre has dreamed of helping people since she was a child. Although she is not a super hero she just might get the chance to live her dreams on the streets of Austin.

"As young as I can remember I always wanted to be a superhero obviously that position was not available so I decided that being a police officer was the best thing," Pitre said.

Pitre isn't alone. Dozens of women spent part of their Saturday at the Austin Police Department Recruiting Office learning about APD's finest.

"It's always been a juggle to balance career and home life and I've been successful as too have the other women at the police department and we just want to share that with some applicants," Sgt. Marci Graham said.

Like a college professor imparting life lessons on her students, Sgt. Graham leads these would-be recruits like Vanessa Fajardo in the two-hour session.

"I feel like there could be some hardships just because it's just the way of the world at this time. I feel like getting information from other people that have done it, who are going through it right now, hoping they can tell me ways to be better," Fajardo said.

Better and more prepared for the climate they will hopefully graduate into and if Saturday's turnout was any indication, this could be the beginning of a new era at the Austin Police Department.

"I thought being a woman was a negative thing because in my mind, as a child, I thought police officers needed to be masculine but the more I talked to police officers that was not the case. You can be a woman and you can be just as awesome as the men and bring more to the table than a man can," Pitre said.

If you are interested in attending a future session or want to learn more about joining the Austin Police Department, you can go to apdrecruiting.org, email APDRecruiting@austintexas.gov or call 512-974-4211.