Insp. Lynne Buehler was one of five women who joined the Peterborough Police in 1985.
She said the early years were a challenge, recalling how they had to convert a holding cell at the police station into a women’s locker room and Buehler herself could not get boots in her size for months.
“People in the community were surprised to see us. They would call me a police man woman, because they didn’t have the language to speak about a police officer” Buehler recalls.
Buehler says she is happy to see a number of the things she was passionate about at the start of her career become standard in today’s criminal justice system.
Buehler has spent time educating young people about policing as a career and says the most important thing they can bring to the job is the ability to communicate.
She says says she will continue teaching part-time at Fleming College and intends to spend more time in her garden and travelling.
WATCH: (Sept. 3, 2019) Peterborough city councillors get update on Peterborough Police Strategic Plan