Women in Law Enforcement | Video

Chris Williams | 7/27/2012

Detective Amy Nickoloff has been working with the Williston Police Department for two years, but she hasn`t always been in law enforcement.

"My past experience I`ve been a teacher, and there`s a lot of drama, a lot of women. You don`t get that working with guys, it`s pretty fun. To see their aspect of how they look at things,” she said.

It`s a good thing Nickoloff doesn`t mind working with so many guys because at one point, that`s all there was.

"When I started, there was only one other female, and then she left. Then it was just me for a little while. Then one of our dispatchers became an officer, and then we hired one more female."

Other officers say Nickoloff and the other two female officers fit right in.

"All three of our female officers do an excellent job, I can`t stress that enough. They`re there when they`re needed, they don`t back down, and again, I wish we had more,” said Williston Police Captain Tom Ladwig.

The three women never shy away from any calls, but life in law enforcement is different for them.

"Everyone expects a male to be a cop kind of thing. When you tell them that you`re a female officer they look at you different. It`s with more respect I think,” added Nickoloff.

No matter what the call is, when Nickoloff shows up, she doesn`t back down. She even says that on certain calls, female police officers can handle the situation better than their male counterparts.

"It just brings a whole different aspect, on a domestic when you walk in. Obviously women like to talk to other women when they`re upset, so that really helps too.”

The department tries to have one female on every shift, so they get to spend a lot of time with the guys.

"I think they consider me one of the males here. You have to have a certain type of attitude to work with a lot of men, and to fit in that kind of way,” Nickoloff said.

Nickoloff adds that her pink handcuffs always get a good response.

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