On Monday night, July 24th, Saugeen Shores had an all-female crew, including the Jail Guard.
Saugeen Shores Police Service posted the Breaking Barriers announcement on Facebook.
Led by Sgt. Chantal Primeau, Constables Gordon and Tienharra were out on patrol while Auxiliary Officer McNeill assisted the officers out on the road.
The first female police officer in Canada wasn’t hired until 1912 when Constable Annie May Jackson paved the way for the future of women in law enforcement.
Serving from 1912 to 1918. she was made a Constable to the Edmonton Police Department
on October 1, 1912, winning out over 47 other applicants. Her photograph as a policewoman appeared on the front page of the London Daily Mirror on August 8, 1913.
on October 1, 1912, winning out over 47 other applicants. Her photograph as a policewoman appeared on the front page of the London Daily Mirror on August 8, 1913. A neighbourhood of Jackson Heights, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is named in her honour and her task was to help young girls and women uphold “high morals and manners”. She dealt with young women immigrating to Canada who were recruited immediately into prostitution.
In 1918 she married William Henry Kelcher and was forced to leave the police force as married women could not serve. Jackson died in 1959, after she was hit by a car while walking near her Edmonton home.
Since then the Edmonton neighbourhood of Jackson Heights, a nearby road, a park and a school have been named after her to preserve her memory and legacy.
[sourced from DBpedia]
