Monitor Photo/Carla Gray
Officer Melissa Lino (from left) is one of Gun Barrel City Police Department's newest recruits joining Captain Connie Katsoulas and Detective Auzshia Martinez. Martinez is training Lino, which includes four phases totaling 16 weeks.

Monitor Photo/Carla Gray
Gun Barrel City Police Department new recruit Officer Odalis Garza (from left), stands with Captain Connie Katsoulas and new recruit Officer Nubia Carmona. 

GUN BARREL CITY–Women make up less than 14% of sworn officers and 20% of recruits in state and local law enforcement agencies, according to https://30x30initiative.org/. But not in Gun Barrel City, during the last recruitment the Gun Barrel City Police Department hired three female officers, making the department 60% women.
Captain Connie Katsoulas and a team of Gun Barrel City police officers went to Navarro College in Corsicana to recruit from its police academy. Katsoulas said, “We didn’t set out to hire women. We set out to hire the best candidates. The ones who applied, who tested well, who interviewed well, and who earned their spots, it just so happened that they were all women.” 
The three new officers graduated from the academy at Navarro College in late January. They promptly started with the Gun Barrel Police Department the very next week. They will go through four phases of training which takes approximately 16 weeks, before they are officially on their own, according to Katsoulas. 
When the recruits were asked, why Gun Barrel City? Their answers were in unison, Captain Katsoulas made a great impression during her recruiting. Officer Nubia Carmona said of the team that came to the recruitment, “I just loved their dynamic. I can tell they we’re all friends, you know, more than just co-workers. They were friends and they treat each other well. So, it just gave me that push to come and apply.”
30X30initiative.org is a website devoted to women in law enforcement. The goal is by 2030 that most police departments across the nation to have 30% of their officers are women, an achievement Gun Barrel City has made, with the three new recruits added to the six already on staff. The website states, “Research shows women officers use less force and less excessive force; are named in fewer complaints and lawsuits; are perceived by communities as being more honest and compassionate; see better outcomes for crime victims, especially in sexual assault cases; and make fewer discretionary arrests for non-violent misdemeanors.”
Katsoulas expressed, “We don’t want to just hire women, we want to develop them. There’s a Women of Law Enforcement conference in Fort Worth this September. My goal is to take every female officer in our department.” Talking about the conference, Katsoulas said, “It’s about mentorship, networking, leadership development and retention. If we want strong policing in the future, we have to invest in the people who are stepping up now.”
The conference is not in the budget so the department will have to raise the funds. According to Katsoulas, she is looking for community sponsorships to help send the nine Gun Barrel City female officers to the September conference. “Our objective is simple, to get all of our female officers there as a team to strengthen leadership, retention and service to the community,” Katsoulas said. 
  For more information about the Women of Law Enforcement Conference contact Captain Connie Katsoulas at ckatsoulas@gunbarrelcity.gov.