Don't Look Down

Nancy Baker lived in a small city with a high crime rate. With a thriving drug trade, burglaries, and multiple assaults, Albion was the armpit of the county. It was the kind of place people locked their car doors before driving past certain neighborhoods.

Nancy worked in the public school system, but budget cuts were looming, and she realized she would be looking for a new job soon. She scanned the want ads every evening for any type of work available until she found an interesting opportunity. The police department was looking for reserve officers.

"I wonder what they do: type a few reports, make the coffee, and answer the phone? I bet it would be interesting."

The next day Nancy stopped by the police department to pick up an application. The officer serving as dispatcher handed her the application with a disgruntled look on his face. The application was long and took more than an hour to complete. When she returned the completed application, she had to consent to a background check and go to booking to be fingerprinted. " Well, that was a little over the top for a part-time job. It's not like I'm applying to be real cop."

The letter of acceptance arrived in the mail a week later. It contained a training schedule and a date for the first meeting. Several young men from the local college attended the meeting. There was one other woman. She was tall and looked strong and well-built. Nancy looked like she was on her way to a PTA meeting. Only five feet three inches tall and one-hundred and thirty pounds, she felt out of place.

At the meeting, it was explained what their responsibilities would be and what the training involved. This didn't sound at all like what Nancy expected. They would have to learn handcuffing and take down techniques, patrol tactics, how to shoot a gun, how to not get shot, and pat-down techniques. The recruits were invited to back out with no shame before the training started. After all this was not for everyone.

While it was not at all what she expected, Nancy was intrigued. The training sounded tough especially the tear gas exposure, but she jumped right in. She never missed a class and did all her ride-a-longs. The young, college-educated officers were friendly and encouraging. The older officers who only completed the basic training at the police academy were hesitant and less cooperative.

Within a year, Nancy developed the police wariness and caution that comes with the job. The other woman quit so Nancy was the only woman in the department. She was often put out on foot her whole shift depriving her of an opportunity to get involved in making an arrest or helping hold a drunk down while being handcuffed. It was the general plan to keep her on foot in freezing rain until her entire uniform including her coat was soaked, and she would quit One night she was assigned to the alley and there she had to guard a door all night in zero weather. It just made her all the more determined to not quit.

The years passed and there were many changes. Nancy was still out there on foot, but now had bars on her collar. The chief decided to 'promote' Nancy to Sargent and place her in charge of the reserve department. About the same time the city council decided that combining the police and fire departments into a public safety department would save money. All the firemen had to attend the police academy and all the cops had to become certified as firefighters. Everyone complained about it and a few resigned.

Nancy requested cross-training with the next group assigned to go, and the chief agreed to allow it. While all the men went together in a patrol car, Nancy drove herself to each class alone. She always arrived early and took a seat. When the men from her department got there, they sat together as far from her a possible and never once spoke to her.

The training offered both book and practical lessons. They had to learn what to use to extinguish differed types of fires, how to open the roof to vent out heat and smoke, suit up including the air tank and mask within one minute, and how to not get killed. One of the last tasks they had to learn was handling a fire hose while it is being charged. When the water is turned on, the force it creates is tremendous.

Each participant got in line for a turn at using the fire hose. Nancy watched while the 'chairman of the get rid of Nancy committee' took his turn. When the water was turned on, he almost lost it and had to have help to keep it from getting away from him. When Nancy's turn came up, she had no problem controlling the hose and directing the stream. She had recently completed a weight-training class at community college.

The last and most dangerous class involved ladder usage. Although not required, participants were encouraged to climb the sixty-six-foot ladder in full turn out gear. This was the part she dreaded most because Nancy suffered from fear of heights. Only a handful of the men were willing to do it, but Nancy got in line for it. The boots she was issued were too big and made it difficult to walk across the floor much less up a ladder.

When her turn came, Nancy put her foot in the first rung and gripped the handrail as tight as she could. Slowly, rung by rung she made it to the top and allowed herself to look down. The sight of the ground so far away took her breath away, but the worst was ahead of her. Now she had to go back down. She lowered her left foot and blindly felt for the next rung down until she found it. She put her weight on it hoping her boot would not slip off. Rung by rung she finally reached the ground with a sigh of relief.

Test day came and each participant had to demonstrate their new skills in small groups and take a written exam. The tests were graded right away while the would-be firemen waited. Nancy scored ninety-six percent. It was the second highest grade in the class, and she couldn't help feeling proud about performing better than the men.

Nancy served in the public safety department for eight years. She was never allowed on the fire ground.