Women in Charge

When she retired Monday, Hill County Deputy Dottie Dwyer left behind quite a legacy. In 1997, she became the county's first and longest serving female deputy.

"It was a challenging but greatly rewarding career," Dwyer said, several days after her last day at work.

Dwyer began her career in law enforcement in 1990. She started out part-time working with the Tri-Agency Safe Trails Task Force, an anti-drug task force comprising members of three different law enforcement agencies, originally covering three or four counties and now has grown to include others. After graduating from the Montana Police Academy, she joined the Havre Police Department in 1990, the third woman in the department's history, before joining the Hill County Sheriff's Department in 1997.

Back when she started in law enforcement, Dwyer said that out of the state's 1,200 law enforcement officers, fewer than 100 were females. Today however, the numbers aren't all that different.

Of the 1,333 officers with police departments and sheriff's offices in the state of Montana, only 91 are women, according to a 2013 report on Montana law enforcement members assembled by the Montana Board of Crime Control.

Despite those numbers, however, female officers have made some noticeable strides, particularly in Hill County where each of the four major law enforcement agencies - the Havre Police Department, Hill County Sheriff's Office, Montana Highway Patrol and the U.S Border Patrol - had, up until Dwyer's recent retirement, at least one woman in their ranks.

Though Havre had female police officers before Dwyer, the sheriff's office had not. Because of that, she said, some residents in the more rural areas of the county were a little taken aback when they saw Deputy Dwyer in uniform.

"I think they were a little surprised to see a female pull up, but, you know, I proved myself," Dwyer said.

For anyone, a career in law enforcement requires sacrifices.

Melissa Hart, an agent with the U.S Border Patrol in Havre, had to leave her family for 12 weeks when she attended the U.S Border Patrol Academy. All recruits she said, are required to live in Artesia, New Mexico, where the academy's training facilities are located.

Hart was the only woman to graduate from her class.

"The biggest challenge is yourself," Hart said. "Proving to yourself that you are capable of completing the exact (same) training courses as the men."

She also had to complete 10 months of training in Arizona, acquiring skills needed in all aspects of the job, Hart said.

She hiked through the desert, where she practiced capturing undocumented aliens, thwarting smugglers and terrorists and interdicting illegal drugs and weapons, she said.

Hart now patrols the vast stretches of land between ports of entry along the U.S.-Canadian border. Despite the rigors, she said, it is worth it.

"This job is fulfilling in so many ways, but mostly because I know I am protecting the country I love and respect," Hart said.

A career in law enforcement isn't for everyone, though.

Victoria Olson, is an officer with the Havre Police Department. She said law enforcement is more than a job.

"It's my belief, whether you are a man or woman in the field of law enforcement, this career is something you have to be called to," Olson said. "It's not something you do, it is who you are."

She describes the function of law enforcement as "standing in the gap between those intend to do harm and those who cannot harm themselves."

By standing in that gap, there is great danger. You never know what is going to happen next, she said. Will the person you pull over for a traffic violation comply, subject an officer to verbal abuse or cause a situation to escalate into a violent confrontation.

But Deedra Finley, a trooper with the Montana Highway Patrol, said that for those who feel beckoned to wear the uniform, they can find their special niche.

"Each day is different with the patrol," Finley said. "If you want to learn drugs, you can learn how to work drugs. If your passion is child safety, you can receive training in that direction as well."

But law enforcement is primarily a field involving people. Not just putting people away, but also assisting them, Dwyer said, it is there where the real satisfaction lies, whether the officer is a male or female.

"When a case is solved or a victim is helped, no words can adequately describe how that feels," Dwyer said. "You come in contact with a variety of people from all walks of life. We learn something from all of them."