Ashley Slane says she wanted to see someone like her on the  Columbus police force 

“There is a lot less females than males in the police department, the cadet says. “It makes it a bit more rewarding.”

The west sider says she joined the department’s Cadet program to help make change. 

“I still have some family and friends there and so it makes me want to do it a little bit more already on top of that, she tells Spectrum News 1. “ Because, I know the area, I know the people,  I know the environment, so I want to go and be able to help out wherever I can.”

Slane is one of around 1,500 aspiring recruits in this year’s Columbus Division of Police recruiting class.  Despite fewer applications,  almost half of  applicants are women and minorities. 

Public Safety Director Ned Pettus says new outreach and engagement efforts were part of the strategy to double diversity of the force over 10 years. 

“The bad things that happen seem to get all of the attention without any effort so we have to double down on our efforts to present the good things that are done,”  says Pettus, who was formerly the city’s Fire Chief. 

The pandemic stopped in person recruiting efforts, moving events online. And the department’s handling of protests put the department’s relationship with the community in the spotlight. 

“I am very pleased, ecstatic to hear these numbers,” says Pettus. “Especially given the challenging environment our recruitment officers have had to work in.”

Deputy Chief Jennifer Knight sees the power of that representation

“When I came on in the division, I was often the only woman at the table, says the city’s second, and currently only female Deputy Chief. The city recognizes that it has more work to do to build not only patrol diversity, but diversity among the ranks. 

“I think our goal  is to bring qualified applicants to the table and look at those groups of individuals across the board in our communities that are underrepresented to  bring a qualified applicant to the table.” 

Building diversity and  representation within the ranks to help improve the community policing experience. 

“We have to still get it right, regardless of what’s going on in the situation, we need to get it right,” says Quinlan. “When you bring in greater diversity, you bring in more life experience, more appreciation for more ideas and viewpoints.”

But, these  numbers don’t mean more diversity on the force just yet. Between 70-90 recruits will be selected from results of the civil  service test. 

“It’s very important that we see everyone who  applied, continue through every  phase of the hiring phase, get through the academy and in a cruiser on our street to serve the community,” says Quinlan.