CINCINNATI — This month marks Women’s History Month, and police departments across the state are trying to do something historic. They're hoping to build up the force with more women officers. 

For decades Cayce Cantrell has been gearing up to protect the streets in Dayton.

“I got started in 1999 after I had a brief career in graphic design," she said. 

But when she first started, the force was male dominated. 

“People at the time weren't as receptive to female officers," she said. "I’d have people that would say, 'well, I was really wanting a male officer to respond to this call.'"

She said just 16% of Dayton officers are women, but she’s trying to change that.

“Women have less citizen complaints that were less likely to be accused of using excessive force," Cantrell said. "We also have good abilities in listening skills and communication in general, de-escalating situations."

That’s why she said they’re trying to make history through a program called 30 by 30. It's an recruiting effort to get the police force up to 30% women by the year 2030.

“Research has shown that when a minority group is reaches 30% in any organization, that's when changes can shift in the culture of the organization," Cantrell said. 

Police departments across the state have also joined in on the effort to bring in more women officers.

The most recent numbers show Columbus Police have about 11% women officers, Cincinnati has about 23% and Cleveland has 33% women officers. 

Back in Dayton they’re not only trying to change the numbers, but policies.

“Policies dealing with child care, issues with maternity leave, with issues regarding lactation, uniform policies, policies that would go into promoting training, mentoring," Cantrell said.

It's all an effort to create more job opportunities to help more women become police officers.