Police Chief 's Steady Climb In Her 'Fallback' Career

The Chief-Leader/Michael O'Kane A RISE AGAINST THE ODDS: When Karen O'Callaghan joined the Nassau County P.D. in 1982, women made up just one percent of the force. Last month she became the department's top uniformed officer, which she describes as 'a position you can't even dream about.'

Originally, a career in civil service was a fallback for Karen E. O'Callaghan, something less appealing than earning a doctorate.

But with some encouragement from her father, a city patrolman, she became part of the one percent of women in the Nassau County Police Department in 1982. Since then, she has done anything but coast, and was recently named the first female Chief of Department, the highest-ranking uniformed official in the agency.

After five years on the waiting list, Ms. O'Callaghan joined a department that was struggling with a lack of women in its ranks. Facilities like bathrooms were such a problem that Ms. O'Callaghan sometimes went to her home, which was in the precinct she worked in. "That was a little difficult working around the clock and finding facilities to go to in the middle of the night," she said.

'All It Took Was a Barfight'

In an interview at the Nassau P.D.'s headquarters in Mineola, she spoke of an initial adjustment period to a near all-boys club, but after that acceptance. "You really just have to prove yourself," she said. "It just took that one barfight, crawling around with your other officers to prove you could do the job just as well."

An early partner, Lieut. Kevin Smith, said that Ms. O'Callaghan quickly became a valued member of the force. "Anytime I got assigned to her car, I knew I was in for a good eight-hour tour," he said.

Since the early 1980s, when there were just 30 women out of 3,000 officers, the female ranks have swelled to 10 percent of a slightly smaller force of 2,700 officers. Ms. O'Callaghan said the disparity was more a sign of the times than blatant discrimination. "Do I think it was harder for women? Yes," she said. "Do I think it was prejudice against women? No. You just had to prove yourself."

The Chief, who has a master's degree in criminal justice from C.W. Post, joined the department at a time when women were required to have greater qualifications than their male counterparts. An archaic rule at the time said they needed two years of college while men needed only a high school diploma. This rule, now defunct, contributed to the gender disparity.

Even after she joined the department, Ms. O'Callaghan considered applying for law school until she was promoted. "Once I made Sergeant, I realized that if I continued to put all my effort toward rising through the ranks, this job could be very fulfilling," she said.

Her father, who lived to see his daughter make Captain, often joked, "He had three sons and one daughter, and the only one who followed his footsteps was his daughter," she said.

A Well-Grounded Advance

In 26-plus years, Ms. O'Callaghan has held several different authority positions during her tenure at the Nassau Police Department, where she says she has been afforded every opportunity. Starting in a two-person patrol car in Roosevelt, she has been commanding officer of the Police Academy, all patrol precincts and the department's counterterrorism unit.

As Chief of Department, Ms. O'Callaghan acts as the legislative liaison for the department, runs the patrol division and administers discipline and awards. "If you compare it to a business, I'm basically the Chief Operating Officer for the Police Department," she said. "This is a position you can't even dream about."

Ms. O'Callaghan said she realizes the department has encountered hard times with the current economic climate, which has shrunk the size of the force. "During tough fiscal times we have to be as efficient as we have always been, but we have to do it with less," she said. This reality affects her job daily, she concedes.

The Chief, who works with the Nassau County Association of Woman Police, recognizes that she has become a role model as she has risen to the top of the command. "There is always a responsibility that goes with that," she said. "Young women should seriously consider law-enforcement as a career. Obviously there is no longer a ceiling, and there hasn't been for awhile."