:: Women in Policing  

Currently, there are twelve women officers in the Fall River Police Department who serve in various capacities and are of varied seniority, from one year of service to thirty years. Women officers, who must meet the same standards as male officers, are currently assigned to the Uniform Division, and as School Resource Officers (in middle schools and in the high school). One woman is an Environmental Police Officer.

The senior woman officer in the Department is Deputy Chief of Police Cathleen Lyons Moniz. In order of descending seniority, the remaining eleven Fall River Police Department women officers are Officer Linette Dispirito, Officer Darlene Carey, Officer Kelly Furtado, Officer MaryBeth Buglio, Officer Maria Kennedy, Officer Lisa Ahaesy, Officer Deborah Jackson, Officer Lynn Foley, Officer Michele Niles and Officer Janis Bubluski and Officer Lisa Lafleur is a Fall River Environmental Police Officer. Several of the women police officers are married and are mothers of young children and teens.

In 2005, a group of women officers established the Fall River Police Department’s Women Officer’s Mentoring, Educating, and Networking (WOMEN) Alliance with Chief of Police John M. Souza. The Alliance exists to support women in the profession of policing. The group’s mission statement is as follows:

"The Fall River Police Department recognizes that certain issues are specific to its women officers. Therefore, it shall be the mission of the Women Officers’ Mentoring, Educating, and Networking (WOMEN) Alliance to offer guidance and support to women officers of the Department. We, members of the Fall River Police Department, will accomplish this through a system that seeks to improve the recruitment, retention, and promotion of qualified women officers; that endorses the professional development of women officers; and that encourages the success of women officers in both the rank and file and in promotional opportunities. We share information and operate as a constant, focused resource for enhancing job satisfaction. We recognize that mentoring, educating, and networking activities, among our colleagues and ourselves, contribute to our becoming better officers in our challenging profession. In the spirit of true public service we do this for ourselves, for our Department, and for our community."

The WOMEN Alliance meets frequently to discuss and act on the topics embodied in their mission statement and to participate in activities that will help bring their message to more young women in the City of Fall River interested in a career in policing. In striving for gender equity, the Department can better achieve its goal of increased diversity in all assignments.

If you are interested in becoming a Fall River police officer, please see the criteria listed elsewhere on our website. If you need further information about the women officers of the Department, or if you or your group are interested in meeting or speaking with women officers of the Department, please email us at cmoniz@frpd.org or call 508 324-2791. We are able to respond to most requests within ten to thirty days.