Determined women drive positive change in traditional policing

Hadley Claudette stares at a photo of herself, sitting in a police car. Her smile is wide and her eyes full of excitement, arms barely long enough to reach the steering wheel.

From a young age, she has been preparing for a career in policing, and her time in the Algonquin College police foundations program has helped solidify that dream.

“I’m confident this is what I need to do. I could make a difference in the law enforcement world,” she said.

Although policing has its challenges for women, Claudette believes they are needed to ensure all victims of crime have proper representation.

“I was compelled to do it. It’s important that the community and the people that we’re dealing with feel comfortable,” Claudette said.

The program has worked closely with the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) toward the goal of having more female officers in the force for over 20 years.

Police services strive to be inclusive to better serve the community. However, there is not enough interest among women around policing as a career.

Today, less than 25 per cent of police officers in forces are women. The OPS is looking to expand its diversity initiative and hire as many eager and capable candidates as they can.

“We have 200 years of existence, of developing a profession, of which 177 years have been with nothing but men. So we need to identify (how to) recognize the experience of women,” OPS Deputy Chief Steve Bell said in an interview with CBC News in 2017.

On March 7, 2025, the OPS hosted the Women in Policing Forum to celebrate International Women’s Day. The event was held to increase policing exposure and inspire a next generation of women in law enforcement.

Women now make up 36 per cent of the OPS workforce, compared to an average of 25 per cent in other police services, reflecting ongoing efforts to promote gender diversity and representation within the service.

Sergeant Maria Keen was the first Filipino woman to serve for the OPS, becoming highly respected for her 29 years in the service.

In her final year at Carleton University, she was hired by the OPS as the first racialized female officer.

“We didn’t have many females, let alone racialized minority females,” Keen said about the work culture when she was first recruited.

“A lot of the officers were very ignorant in terms of my culture and as a female. They were very traditional. Men didn’t think females belonged in policing. There was a belief that they had to ‘take care of us’ or protect us. I had to prove myself by being physically engaged and present on calls. It took a few years, but I earned their respect.”

Although Keen faced challenges in the past, she said the force is a lot more diverse and accommodating now than when she first started.

To be recruited by a police force in Ontario, all candidates must complete a fitness test, which mainly consists of strength and cardio endurance testing.

Although the fitness standards for some police forces have been lowered to increase representation in the force, the OPS has decided these requirements are essential.

When asked about whether women should receive accommodations for these tests in Ontario, Keen emphasized the importance of having equal treatment for all future candidates.

“Physiologically and biologically, (men and women are) different. When we’re out there, we’re the same, we do the exact same job,” she said.

“If we set up accommodations and give them (women) special treatment, how are they going to be perceived on the job?”

Keen, a former recruiting officer for the OPS, believes these requirements should be the same for everybody, regardless of their gender.

Barbara Bal agrees. She is a police officer with OPS and was the Conservative candidate in the riding of Nepean in the recent federal election.

“Once you have merit and you’re hired, you should have the same opportunities as everyone else. You shouldn’t have extra opportunities because of your gender, but you shouldn’t be denied opportunities because of your gender either,” Bal said.

She believes some cases require the strong communication and sensitivity of a woman’s nature.

“There are some aspects of policing that you can’t do if you’re not a female,” Bal said.

Bal first served in the Royal Canadian Artillery for 10 years, until one of her coworkers was hired with the Halton Regional Police Service and submitted her application. She has been working as a public safety professional for over 25 years.

“I am one of those examples that was very prevalent among women. They don’t really consider policing a career. Someone else has to suggest it,” Bal said.

“It’s a very different environment than even 28 years ago,” Bal said. “When I first started policing, the biggest skill an officer could have was good communication. You can talk someone into an arrest, you can talk someone into a fight. But I find now, when I see some of the issues with the drugs on the street, every arrest is a fight.”

She is concerned about the increased crime rate in Canada and how the negative perception and defunding of the police is contributing to a lack of resources, specifically in child exploitation units.

Bal took a leave from policing during her political campaign. She said it was getting difficult for her to see so many cases of child violence crimes, especially being a mother of three.

“Policing isn’t as glamorous as it used to be,” she said. “We’ve been villainized…demonized…it’s okay to attack the police now. That was unheard of when I started out.”

“I was sick of being on that side of the table,” she said, feeling as though not enough was being done to solve these issues. She hoped to bring about change to these issues in federal politics. (Liberal Mark Carney, the prime minister, won the Nepean seat in the April 28 election).

Despite challenges, Bal believes policing is a meaningful, impactful career where you can “make a difference in a lot of people’s lives.”

“When you’re dealing with human trafficking victims, it’s more difficult for male officers. In that case, it would be better to have a female officer, where you don’t get that unhealthy dynamic between a victim and an officer,” she said.

In some religions, it is also not culturally appropriate for a woman to be searched by a male officer.

Federal officer Jennifer Segal, a professor for the diversity in Canada course in Algonquin College’s police foundations program, also touched on the importance of having female applicants in the police force.

“Women bring empathy, compassion,” Segal said.

“We rely more on communication, de-escalation and connection.”

Despite positive changes, Segal believes there is a barrier in education and harmful stereotypes of what a career in law enforcement can look like for a woman.

“We can’t draw people in and keep the system the same. We have to actually determine what’s not bringing them in. Part of it is that balance of life and work,” she said.

Segal thinks there need to be more support systems for female officers, such as providing daycare and a bigger sense of community and support.

“I had the fortune of having my family to support me. Not everyone has that support,” she said.

RCMP officer Natasha Loewen says she has always wanted to be a police officer.

“I knew at a young age, the way that I grew up, that my way of dealing with people was different. I had that thing in me, a fire. I was built to deal with people in crisis,” she said.

Loewen was a paramedic for several years before she was a police officer. She applied to the RCMP and was recruited in 2015. She says her job was mainly focused on the medical side, but her heart leaned toward stopping crime and preventing casualties.

She said at first it was a long process for her to earn respect within the force as a female officer because it is still a male-dominated field.

Starting out in the force, she was immediately placed into the gang task force in North Battleford, where there are five First Nations reserves. She said it was a very violent place, “a constant warzone.” Loewen was in charge of getting drugs and guns off the road, doing search warrants, going after drug lords and preventing gang activity.

In the beginning of her career as an officer, she was shocked that some male officers undermined her capabilities. Loewen admits it took time to earn respect.

“I was doing the same work as everybody else, but when I presented something at the table, I had to justify how I got it.”

Regardless of initial challenges, things improved as she went along. She was greatly respected in the community for the quality of her work. Loewen says she has the ability to command authority, and her investigations led to one of the biggest drug busts in the city.

Loewen is now working in a general investigation unit in which she finds her presence and role as a woman appreciated.

“I do think that there’s something to be said for a more sensitive investigation,” Loewen said.

In a sexual assault investigation, Loewen took most of the statements from the victims, and she was told that they were grateful to speak with her. As Bal noted, with a rise in child crimes and sexual assault crimes, many victims feel more comfortable speaking with a woman because of their nurturing nature.

Women have been offering valuable assets to our community as they serve in the police sectors. The future of our police force is in the hands of the next generation, and they may even be hidden within the brick walls of our school.

Hadley Claudette is currently exploring several police organizations where she hopes to apply, inspired by the impactful officers who have come before her. Like Keen, she believes that policing is more than a profession — it’s a calling. Eager to bring about change, Hadley is determined to stand alongside the strong, assertive women in policing who continue to shape the future of the force.