Article March 6, 2000 Issue

Police sergeant finds her strength in God

Sexism overcome

By Jane T. Moran

For the past seventeen years I have worked as a police officer for a small town in Massachusetts, rising through the ranks to my current position of sergeant. My primary responsibilities are to patrol the community and respond to emergency calls.

I was the first female from my area to successfully complete the stringent basic training required to become an officer. From the beginning I had to resist the negative connotations of being a minority. I do not see myself as a minority. I see myself as a child of God, reflecting all the spiritual qualities, both masculine and feminine, that God has given each of us as His creation.

I've found that the only way to counteract unfair, exclusive, minimizing, demoralizing, exaggerated, or oversimplified statements or attitudes toward me has been to trust in God and the power of prayer. I strive to say what God wants me to say. I make every effort not to be tricked into feeling victimized, abused, left out, powerless, inferior, self-conscious, or different in a negative way. I am God's child, and I have all the tools I need, including the right thoughts, vision, and intelligence. I will be given everything I need to know, and if I have to pray all day and night, that is what I will do.

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