hi I'm assistant chief Nicole walner with Milwaukee Police Department recently our department joined a national initiative called 30 by 30. the goal of 30 by 30 is to have 30 percent of your recruit classes be female by the year 2030. Milwaukee is well on their way with 30 percent of our Command Staff already being female but we're only at 16 for our recruit classes we're going to show you three other women on this department with all different stories literally this job is open to anyone and you can choose your own path once you get here historically it's been thought to be a man's job but that's not true this job is for everyone and everyone has a place in this and you can make this your career or you can make it a job but I do think that if you join us you'll find your passion here and it's worth you trying listen to their stories I'm Sergeant Cassandra Benitez um so I started on the job when I was 18 as a police aide I have numerous family members on the job cousins aunts and uncles and at Family get-togethers it was fun to hear all of the stories of what they did which is what led me into applying to be a police aide two of my cousins were already police aides and I thought it would be something fun and different to do to me what makes a good supervisor is one that knows how to do the job that they're asking me to do and they're willing to help out when it's needed honesty equity and knowledge are really the traits that I respect and the traits that I try to exhibit Sharita Obi police officer with Milwaukee Police Department the reason why I wanted to become a police officer was because I watched my father growing up he was a sheriff for Milwaukee County however I became a police officer late in life because uh unfortunately my dad did not want me to become a police officer at that time at 17. he thought it was too dangerous I went to school right at 18 I left and I went to Arizona Phoenix Arizona to be correct and I did medical assistant because my father did not want me to become a cop so I did the next best thing of helping people which was I went into the medical field I started the National Guard approximately I believe it was like four years before I became a police officer so once I joined the military there was no more uh stopping of becoming a cop so later on after my military I wanted to still become a police officer so I joined the Milwaukee Police Department around the age of 27 years old I now have been on a little over 10 years I have been in several different position positions so far I've worked in the jail the jail gave me a different perspective got to do numerous things transporting the prisoners administrative work so I learned all that and now currently I am at district 7 day shift as Patrol and that is definitely a journey and it's it's been pretty fun for the last almost three years police officer Nora berlow and I work for the Milwaukee Police Department [Music] what inspired me to become a police officer is my family and our overall background my father was in law my mother was also in the law but not law enforcement they were more the judicial side of things and I had a family member who had significant mental health issues and I wanted to start from the ground up and get to know what it was like out here in Milwaukee on the streets before hopefully moving into the judicial side of law as well my being a female police officer has had a positive effect on my family in that my children can see that women are strong as well and that I'll do anything to support them that I not only go to a scene with the intention of helping but I also have some compassion for what individuals are going through the most rewarding aspect of my career has been recognized by community members as being that officer who came in with compassion and understanding the best advice I would give to any female that's looking into law enforcement is to just go for it we're strong and we can do it too [Music]