Diversity is very important when you look at any police department. The residents look at who is policing them and take that very serious. It helps the department in many ways along with community policing. When there is an incident, departments with a diverse work force and that practices community policing, get the benefit of the doubt. Another benefit is officers get a certain level of protection because the citizens tend to look out for them when you have this level of trust. It is hard for some communities to trust the police, so anything extra helps out. Many in the Latino community have had bad experiences with the police especially in the countries in which they came from. That’s why having Latino and Black officers on the department is very helpful.
In this article I would like to talk about the very first female Latino Sergeant on the department who took a test for her promotion. Now there was another female Latino Sergeant who had the position first but she was appointed to that position and did not take a test. That means she had an administrative position so it was different than a regular Sergeant. So again Vickie Gagliano was the first tested Sergeant. She became an officer in September 1993. She was assigned to District 7 out of the academy upon graduation. Other supervisors asked her about taking the Sergeant exam and she started to study for it. She studied around the station and asked other people about the position. Once she became a Sergeant she was happy with the position and most of the guys respected her.
The Sergeant position is one of the most important spots on the department. It is a first line supervision position which helps to monitor what officers do on a daily basis. They keep the officers in line and monitor scenes like fires, shootings, and car accidents. The scene should be orderly and everyone has a duty to complete until the scene is cleared. So good Sergeants are very important to keep the department running in an orderly and efficient manner. If a Sergeant doesn’t do his/her job, then the officers can do pretty much what they like. In addition Lieutenants and Captains are on the street at times which also helps with overall supervision. I was a Deputy Inspector on the street and supervised the entire department at night when I worked.