Terriers, you might’ve heard people complain about Boston University’s lack of a “traditional campus.” But whether you love or hate our Commonwealth Ave. bubble, there’s no doubt that student safety at BU is an important part of the community on this urban campus.
Tucked into West Campus over at 32 Agganis Way, you’ve likely passed by the Boston University Police Department at some point. However, few students ever stop in to see how things work behind the scenes.
While you might not see them, BUPD officers are staying vigilant of what’s happening at BU day and night.
If this little spiel has prompted your curiosity, you’re in luck! Go on this written ride-along with Officer Samantha Woods, 28, as she reveals what life is like for a patrol officer at BU and details her experience as a woman in law enforcement.
Originally a communications major with no interest in law enforcement, Officer Woods made the jump to criminal justice studies at Lasell College, now called Lasell University, after taking an elective course her freshman year—which she said sparked her desire to join the police force.
In March 2019, she began her part-time training with the Police Reserve/Intermittent Reserve Academy as one of only three women in a program of roughly 40 trainees. While completing her training, Woods also worked at Boston Medical Center until joining BUPD in March of this year, where she has been working the night shift.
We all know how rowdy the BU campus can get at night, not to mention the urban environment that adds an extra element of chaos. But what does the job really look like?
Woods, who works a “four days on and two days off” schedule, keeps a consistent routine to help maintain some normalcy in her life, even with the odd hours she works.
“I typically sleep until probably one in the afternoon, and then I get up. I’ll walk my dogs, I’ll do chores, laundry, dishes, stuff like that, and then get ready for work,” she said. “My roll call starts at 11:30 p.m. and then we go until about 7:30 in the morning, when we get to go home.”
Once she’s clocked into work for the long night ahead of her, she hits the campus streets with her fellow officers for patrol.
“We do directed patrols of the campus, is what it’s called,” Woods said. “We make sure everything is in order, and there’s nothing happening that shouldn’t be.”
Compared to the bustle of the day shift, Woods said the workflow is quite different at night.
“The day shift doesn’t get the party calls and the medicals that we get. They also have a lot more reports, because people are awake to report things,” she said.
But regardless of whether it’s busy or quiet, if you’ve ever had to stay up late cramming for exams or fallen victim to unfortunate bouts of insomnia, you know being up all night is not an easy task.
“It’s hard mentally and physically. I’ve been on [the night shift] for about six years now,” Woods said. “That was the shift I had at the hospital as well, so I’ve been doing it pretty much my whole career.”
With the reduced officers and the cold nights that winters in Boston can bring, it’s clear that the night shift is not for the weak. But even under these taxing conditions, Woods said she’s been able to form closer—although different—relationships with her colleagues.
“My first and second night, it’s a younger crew, the other guys are probably in their low 30s,” she said. “Then on my nights three and four, it’s older gentlemen that have been in the department for a long time and have been doing night shifts their whole career.”
Although there are noticeably no women on her shift rotations, Woods said that it’s not something she focuses too much on.
“They’re all great backup and great people to work with, but it’s definitely a different dynamic.”
As law enforcement continues to be a male-dominated industry, Officer Woods’ situation in her department is a common one among female officers.
According to 30x30initiative.org, only 12% of sworn-in officers in the U.S. are women. Of that number, only 3% hold leadership positions. BU Today reported that this disparity is slightly decreased at BU, with seven out of the 48 sworn officers being female (that comes out to around 15% for my stats fanatics).
While these numbers might suggest negative trends for women entering law enforcement, the reality is that these small percentages signify improvements in the industry when it comes to the gender barrier.
Kym Craven, executive director of the National Women in Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE) said, “When I got into the profession, the number of women was just at about 5%, and all these years later, we are still just under 14%, so it has been a slow change in the field.”
To accelerate this slow process, the 30×30 initiative was born. Co-launched by the Policing Project at the New York University School of Law and NAWLEE, the initiative is based on research indicating that there needs to be at least 30% representation of marginalized groups to create meaningful change.
“Our goal is to really think about how to recruit and retain women, so that there is a cultural shift in policing that is welcoming to women and that really can help utilize the skills,” Craven said. “This isn’t about being against men or saying men shouldn’t be in law enforcement. It’s just that women should be as well.”
Since its launch in March 2021, the initiative has been incorporated in nearly 400 federal, state, local, and university police agencies in the United States and Canada. This includes the BUPD as of this past September, according to BU Today.
The BUPD Chief Robert Lowe said in a statement for BU Today that the department joined this initiative because “it’s critical that the police department reflects the community that it serves.”
At only 28, Officer Woods was much too young to have experienced what life was like for a policewoman years ago. However, as someone who came into the industry later in life, she said she wishes the narrative could be more focused on the future than on the past.
“A lot of the university cops who come from other departments are a wealth of knowledge, they’re great to have, but for a long-term plan of the university, I think we need a younger group—obviously we need females,” Woods explained.
The work still needs to be put in, and joining the 30×30 initiative is a step in the right direction for BUPD. As for Woods, she remains optimistic about the future of women in law enforcement and about her own career with BUPD.
“I think that throughout the years, it’s only going to get better. And that makes me happy and look forward to the future in the industry, and for staying at the university in general.”
Whether you’ve considered a career in law enforcement or not, this story of women having to break into male-dominated careers is one that many of us have or will experience one day.
From fighting for our right to earn an education and universal suffrage to any of the number of issues we face now, it can feel like a constant uphill battle for young women across the world. But don’t let that deter you.
Remember, glass ceilings were made to shatter!Â
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