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OPP Celebrating 50 Years of Women in Uniform

Friday, 8 March 2024 10:47

By Marcie Culbert @marcieculbert

Photo Credit: Ontario Provincial Police X page, @OPP_News

The OPP had its first class of female recruits back in 1974.

ONTARIO/OXFORD - The Ontario Provincial Police is celebrating 50 years of having women in uniform this International Women's Day.

The OPP was first established in 1909, but the first class of female recruits didn't come along until 1974. Randi Crawford, the Community Safety and Media Relations Officer for Oxford County, says it was a completely different world back then.

"There were 15 recruits and for the first short time women in policing were wearing skirts, with nylons, with high heels and to top it off, we carried our guns and our handcuffs in a purse."

She adds we've come a long way since then.

"Now we carry the exact same gear as our male peers, which is approximately 30 pounds of equipment on our vests and our duty belts."

Crawford says 41 percent of the Oxford OPP members today are also women.

Randi Crawford stopped by the Heart FM studio to chat with Dan and Marcie on Friday March 8th, where she also shared a poem she wrote about women in uniform. You can listen to the full interview below:

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