A third of the latest round of recruits to join the ranks of the Windsor Police Service are female.
A badge presentation ceremony was held for the graduating class of nine Wednesday night at the Tilston Armoury.
Keri Parent is one of the three females set to begin patrolling the city's streets next week.
Parent grew up in west Windsor says policing was always a dream for she and her sister Candace Scott who has been a Windsor Police constable for the past six years as well.
Parent says her sister was able to be part of the ceremony.
"She was able to present me with my badge tonight. It was very emotional and it was a great experience. I don't think it's something that a lot of people get to experience, but I'm glad that I got to share that with her and I get to share our careers together."
She says she's always thought highly of the police.
"Growing up in the west end of Windsor, with all the influential people and the police officers in our community, I think that really had me going in the right direction and kept me going in the right direction. My mom was very involved with our community as well and we had a lot of great people in our lives that kept us on the right road."
Chief Al Frederick says the hiring process has been widened.
"We're now recruiting coast to coast to be competitive. We have a young lady from Calgary here, another from London. Three of the nine are female, which is good. Diversity of experiences as well. We have a couple of military people and others with work experience. So we're getting very well rounded officers."
Windsor Police Chief Al Frederick at a badge presentation ceremony on August 22, 2018 (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
He says several steps have been taken to attract females and make them more comfortable during the hiring process.
"For example, we allow all females to compete in the physical examination just by themselves, with no males, so they feel more comfortable. Their success rate at the physical is just as good as the guys. So it's very important that we identify what the barriers are and we do everything we can to be inclusive."
Windsor Police new recruits take part in a badge presentation ceremony on August 22, 2018 (Photo by CTV Windsor's Alana Hadadean)
Parent says policing may be in the blood as her three year old son is showing interest as well.
"We're definitely teaching him the good things that come along with policing. It's not all just what you see in the media all the time. A large part is being supportive of your community and wanting to help and be a good person. I think that's what's important for people to see. We truly are hired because we want to make a difference in our communities."
Thus far in 2018, roughly 25 new Windsor Police constables have been hired.