Detective Amanda Schwenk

What is the best part about being a police officer on Nantucket?

The best part of being a police officer on Nantucket is the uniqueness the island brings to police work. You go from policing a community during the off-season to policing a highly populated tourist/vacation destination in the summer months.There is also a wide range of individuals that we may come across from all over the country and world. Nantucket being an island also means that at least right away and for some time afterwards, we are the only ones responding to that call. Unlike other mainland towns/cities who can depend on neighboring agencies to respond and assist if they need to. For us, we are it until another agency can get to the island via ferry, plane, etc. This can bring different kinds of challenges and experiences that you would not necessarily experience elsewhere.

What is it like to be a female in a traditionally male-dominated profession?

Being a female in this field of work, at least for me, has never felt like it’s any different than my male co-workers. It could be that I have been fortunate to start and continue my career at NPD. Working at NPD, I have always felt accepted and never felt treated differently than my male coworkers. When you look at NPD, we currently have eight women working here who all hold different ranks and positions. We have women who are Sergeants, Detectives, School Resource Officer, Motorcycle Officer and part of the S.W.A.T. team. I think with any profession, mindset matters. As long as you're knowledgeable within your profession, continue to train, both physically and mentally, and are able to do the job, then being female or male doesn’t really matter. This however has been my experience and I am sure it may be different for other females within this profession across the country.

Are there ways in which the public interacts with you as a female police officer differently than your male counterparts?

There are absolutely ways in which the public interacts differently with me as a female officer than my male coworkers. There are negative and positive experiences. Most times we are generally treated the same way when responding to calls or amongst the public. However, sometimes I have experienced not always being shown the same respect as my male coworkers. I have been referred to as “honey” or “sweetheart” instead of Officer. There have also been times where people simply just don’t respect you as a female and only want to talk to the male officer on scene. I have had sexual derogatory comments made by either people passing by while patrolling or individuals we are dealing with more times than I can count. I have been asked why I am a police officer and usually followed up with “aren’t you scared” or “how do you handle the calls”. The negativity is easily outweighed by the positive interactions and being able to simply brush off the negative comments or simply ignore them. The positives have been that sometimes there is a different reaction with a female officer on scene depending on the calls. Having a woman there during a call with female victims or females in need of assistance can help bring some ease and maybe they are more comfortable to open up and talk. There are also times when people are positive and think it is really admirable to see a female as a police officer.

Has it been gratifying or rewarding to see the number of female officers at NPD continue to grow over the years?

It has definitely been gratifying to see the number of female officers grow over the years. Not just with full time officers but with the CSO program as well. When I started as a CSO in 2013, my first summer we only had four females total in the whole program. We have seen in the last couple of years that number grow to double digits. I think that speaks to the adaptation of this profession which has always been viewed as dominantly male to more and more females becoming police officers.

How do the female police officers of NPD rely on each other as individuals and as a group within the department?

We all in a way have a similar experience which is being a female in this profession. I know that we can rely on each other with those struggles or issues that may arise because of being a female in this profession if we ever needed to.