She made history twice during her time with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), and now that Danielle Campbell is joining the civilian ranks by accepting a position at MacEwan University, she’s had a chance to reflect on her career and the challenges facing cops, in particular female officers.
“I’m just Danielle, Hazel’s daughter,” Campbell says with a shy grin on her face. “Nothing more.”
But in the world of policing, Campbell accomplished what no other woman had on Edmonton’s police force – twice. In April, after nearly five years, she quietly stepped down from her role as EPS deputy chief, the first woman to carry that title.
Over her 27-year policing career, Campbell also became EPS’ first female canine officer, a milestone she says was not reached without challenges.
“I received a Barbie doll in the mail with a noose around its neck with a very disparaging comment on it: ‘no split tails in canine, take a hint,” Campbell recalls.
Campbell, who was also the first openly gay cop on the force when she joined, says that wasn’t the only sexist episode she endured during her time as a police officer.
Early in her career, she says a superintendent asked her about her goal of becoming a canine handler.
“I said, ‘Well sir, I want to be a dog handler,’ Campbell says. “He said to me that I could never be a dog handler because my menstrual cycle would affect the dog.”
During her time with the Edmonton Police Service, Campbell also spent time as a patrol officer and worked in both major crimes and child protection. But Campbell suggests she has seen a change in the challenges facing police officers today.
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“The potential for violence and life-threatening violence to officers is unprecedented, in my experience.”
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Campbell attributes the rise in danger she says she sees in policing to a surge in the number of weapons officers now encounter.
“The prevalence of firearms today – in the city – it’s not like anything I had ever seen in my early years,” she says.
Campbell is set to teach post-secondary students about policing after accepting a position as a full-time faculty member at MacEwan University.
-With files from Shallima Maharaj
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