‘It’s all worth it’: Women officers with SJPD share passion for their career

By Jenna Wilson

While working in law enforcement isn’t always easy, women of the St. Joseph Police Department take pride in serving the city.

Ashley Nagle has been working at the St. Joseph Police Department as an officer for nearly 10 years. A lot of history remains in the building of this police department for her, as she found much of her inspiration to get into this field through her grandfather who’s also an officer for the department.

“Growing up, watching him and coming to the police station and interacting with other officers and seeing the job that they do always interested me,” Nagle said. “Eventually, I went on a ride-along when I turned 18 and it pretty much was set in stone that this is what I was going to do and that’s what I did.”

Nagle takes pride in working alongside other women officers like Detective Kylee Van Meter, who has been at the department for nine and a half years.

Van Meter has always had a passion for the investigative side of this field.

“I very much enjoyed the patrol side of it, which is what kind of got me here,” she said. “Over time I decided I wanted to go back into the detective’s unit and work with family crime. I would say the cases that I work are the most rewarding. You get to work with kids that don’t really get to stand up for themselves and it’s a good feeling to be a part of getting them through that.”

While law enforcement is a career they enjoy, it’s also a demanding one — that doesn’t come without challenges for anyone in the field — especially women.

“Females are more emotional than men,” Nagle said. “We respond to a variety of calls and it’s anything from domestics to child assaults, sexual assaults and as a woman or a mother, it’s just difficult. Sometimes you must learn to like, control those emotions and be there for your victims in a supportive yet professional way.”

Despite the emotional challenges that come with this career field, it’s certainly not a job a woman can’t handle, and both Nagle and Van Meter say working at the St. Joseph Police Department has been a positive experience for them, thanks to the support of all the staff within the building.

“Overall, in the last 10 years, law enforcement itself has grown here at the department as far as the mental health aspect,” Nagle said. “I think we’ve learned over time that we are all human, we all have feelings and we all have to deal with those. We can’t just push those aside or bury those.”

Van Meter also agrees and said she’s confident that she’s working at the place where she hopes to retire.

“I have never felt like I couldn’t do this job while working here,” Van Meter said. “We have great officers here, great staff and you build lifelong friendships. I plan to do this for the rest of my life until I retire.”

The women of the St. Joseph Police Department encourage any woman who has a passion for working in a male-dominated career like law enforcement to go after their dreams.

“I think it’s also a strength, though, for women to be in this career field, see those things and be motherly and nurturing,” Nagle said. “It’s a give and take and it kind of balances itself out. It’s all worth it in the end. I chose this career for a reason.”