Conway Inspiration for Aspiring Female Officers

While gender equality is still far from 50/50 in the Morton Grove Police Department, Cmdr. Mike Fujara said that officers like Maria Conway stand as encouraging examples for other women thinking about joining the force.

“I think other people look up to them,” he said. “If a female feels that this would be something she’d be interested in, and if she lived in the village and saw a number of female officers on the job, that would definitely be something to lock her in as far as wanting to be a police officer.”

Conway joined the department in August 2010 after being appointed to the probationary status of an officer in April of that year. Conway, who grew up in southwest Chicago emphasized the importance of women having the opportunity to choose whatever career they want.

 “If law enforcement or public service is what a female has aspirations of doing with her career,” she said, "she shouldn't let anyone or anything stop her.”

That sentiment was echoed by Maria Toth, the sole woman on Morton Grove’s Board of Trustees, who said, “I definitely do think, especially for younger girls, there’s so much they can do nowadays.”

 “I applaud women who want to do different things--who want to go outside the box, so to speak,” Toth said

Conway, a  27-year-old London native, moved to the States with her family when she was 2-years-old. She attended Moraine Valley Community College and received an associate’s degree in General Education there, where she discovered a passion for public service, before attending the University of Illinois-Chicago and earning a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.

Of the 45 active officers in the Morton Grove Police Department, Conway is one of only four females on the force, said Cmdr. Mike Fujara. Two others are patrol officers and one is part of the special operations unit, he said.

He said female interest in the profession has been on the uptick over the past two to three decades, and that, “It’s not like it was getting on the job 25 or 30 years ago.”

The percent of female officers employed by local police departments in the U.S. hasn't been at a rapid increase, but the numbers have gone up steadily in past decades; between 1987 and 2007, the number of women officers increased from 7.6 percent to about 12 percent, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

“I think you’ll see the numbers start to climb as far as female officers getting on the job,” Fujara said.

Becoming a police officer requires both written and physical tests.

According to the Illinois Law Enforcement and Training Board and Standards Board, physical fitness requirements are based on age and gender.

But once everyone is in the academy, every cadet must do the same physical work, and when cadets become officers, they are paid the same amount, noted Conway.

Yet, everyone doesn’t treat Conway, or other female officers, equally.

Although Conway has no complaints about her male counterparts in the police department, she told of occasionally encountering citizens and offenders who she believes treated her differently because of her gender.

That sort of behavior comes from both males and females, Conway said, noting that a woman once referred to her as “sweetie” and “hon” during a traffic stop.

On the flip side, Fujara said he sees situations where a female officer’s gender might help. Some people might assume that a female officer is more compassionate and understanding than a male.

“Looking at the other end of the spectrum it may be easier to approach a female officer with good information,” Fujara said. “If maybe [a citizen] feels that if they approach a male officer, that he has that aura about him that maybe makes him seem not approachable.”

Nevertheless, public service isn’t as dependent on gender as much as it is on perseverance, Conway said.

“Being strong mentally will help [you] get through any challenges in life,” she said.

Conway’s day isn’t much different from her male counterparts.  Each shift starts with roll call to learn what’s happening on the streets of Morton Grove, and then she gets a radio and the keys to her patrol car. After that  she makes sure the assigned patrol car is functioning properly, and then it’s off on patrol.

Conway said most of the time, she is what’s called a “rover,” an officer without a specific assigned beat who instead circulates around town making traffic stops when necessary and backing up colleagues when needed.

At stoplights, she types in license plate numbers into the computer mounted on her dashboard, checking for expired plates or driver’s licenses. As cars pass by, she checks to see if the driver is wearing a seat belt.

“There is a lot of multitasking,” she said. 

While there is always an element of danger to being a police officer, doing the job isn’t as exciting as many people might think.

“I would say there is more paperwork than I expected,” Conway said.