On Sgt. Melissa Blubaugh’s first day on the job at Wadsworth police department, several of her male colleagues wouldn’t acknowledge her as an officer. She was the only woman on the force.
That was 23 years ago. Things have changed since then.
When the office rang in the new year last weekend, the department found itself staffing one shift with all women. The department posted to Facebook in celebration of women in uniform and was inundated with support. The post was seen by more than 35,000 people, Blubaugh said.
“It was really great to get that kind of support,” she said. “It wasn’t always like that.”
On her first day in January 1994, Blubaugh — who’d graduated from college a year earlier — faced challenges almost immediately.
“A lot of people walked out and didn’t want to talk to me,” she said. “They didn’t agree with me getting the job and they had been warned to be careful about how they talked to me, so they decided to avoid it... It was a little discouraging at first.”
Blubaugh, who was the only female officer when she was hired in 1994, described the beginning of her career as “rough.” It’s gotten better since then, with Blubaugh eventually reaching the rank of sergeant and several other women joining the force.
Today, there are five women on the force with a sixth incoming. In total, the office hires about 29 officers.
“We’re doing really well in terms of women on staff,” she said. “There are some departments our size that don’t have any female officers at all. We’ve come a long way.”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, women made up about 13 percent of police officers across the country in 2013, which was the most recent data available. Wadsworth employs almost double the average.
Though Blubaugh was the only woman on staff when she was hired, she wasn’t the first for Wadsworth. Another woman, Lenora Taylor, was hired in 1984 after she filed a lawsuit alleging she was turned away because she was a woman. She was fired from the job in 1985, shortly before her anniversary with the department.
The police cited her job performance as the reason she was fired, but Taylor alleged she was fired because she was black and a woman. She sued and in 1988 settled the case in exchange for $22,500. She had sought $3 million.
The switch from questionable firings to celebrating woman wasn’t an easy journey, Blubaugh said. Though she quickly earned respect from her colleagues, the department didn’t have certain protocols set up that women in others careers might take for granted. Specifically, she said questions arose when she became pregnant.
“In another career, I could have done my job right until the day I gave birth,” she said. “But as a police officer, we had to figure out at what point I should switch to light duty.”
In the end, the department let her decide.
“When I decided I was uncomfortable on patrol, they switched me over,” Blubaugh said. “Wadsworth was really good about that — but a lot of other departments aren’t as accommodating.”
The department has since established a policy.
Though the police department was mostly accepting during her tenure, Blubaugh said the public is still routinely surprised when women show up at crime scenes.
“When I first started, people would ask for a male officer to come instead of me — especially if it was for domestic violence,” she said. “That doesn’t happen too much anymore, but we still get people saying they didn’t know Wadsworth has female officers.”
She said she plans to retire in two years — but she trusts the other women on the force will carry on her legacy. Her retirement, though, means there will no longer be a female supervisor at the department.
“I hope that changes before I retire,” she said. “Maybe we’ll even get a female chief one day.”
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ and on Facebook @JournoNickGlunt .