INDIANAPOLIS — The job of a police officer is inherently dangerous. Their job is to run toward danger, and at any given moment, they may have to respond to help someone who is having the worst day of their life. With that in mind, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is trying to ensure its police force is a reflection of the community it serves.
“It’s important to have women on our department to reflect our community because we serve the diverse population, right? We need our agency to reflect our population that we serve,” IMPD Deputy Chief Tanya Terry said during a recruiting event on Saturday. “And with only 13% of our department being comprised of women, that’s much lower than the population that we serve, which is closer to 50% women.”
Mary Ann Kitzmiller might soon be among the women working for IMPD. She is currently a certified EMT, and she now wants to add the position of police officer to her resume. She knows what it’s like to run toward danger. In fact, an emergency run last year for a cardiac arrest opened her eyes to becoming a police officer.
“Long story short, we were in the wrong address, so I opened up a bedroom and there was somebody sleeping,” Kitzmiller said. “I woke them up. They had a firearm next to them, so they become running downstairs. Somebody screaming as we’re running out the house, and so I think we could’ve very well got shot that day.”
While most people would’ve taken the incident as a reason to quit, it showed Kitzmiller that you can never have too much training. She says EMTs are not trained to be police officers, and police officers are not trained to be EMTs. Kitzmiller now hopes she can become an EMT-certified police officer who can handle any run that comes her way.
“The same job we respond to a lot of the same runs, a lot of same medical calls, whether it’s mental emotional overdoses,” Kitzmiller said. “But the officers are usually there before we are, and with my background in the medical knowledge, I’d like to get there first and have that knowledge to be able to take action on those runs. Instead of just waiting for the medic to show up, I have that knowledge.”
Kitzmiller has already submitted her application, and next week she’ll become part of IMPD’s 32nd recruiting class. IMPD officers of all ranks spent Saturday morning looking for more women recruits at their “Her Badge, Her Impact” event, giving firsthand accounts on being a woman with a badge. Women like Kitzmiller are who Terry says she’s looking for — someone who wants to put on that badge and help people.
“We are looking for people who have a strong, inherent desire to serve their community for the right reasons. We have great salary. We have great benefits. We have an excellent, excellent police department, but really the “why” is what we’re looking for people who want to serve their community and be a part of the solution and make our city better and safe.”
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