Belleville, Illinois, hires first female police officer in 1994: FOX 2 Archives
BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- In 1994, one woman made history in Belleville, Illinois, as their police department's first female officer. The city of Belleville was 200 years old before hiring their first female officer, 30-year-old Kelly Paul. Paul was a former newspaper reporter who traded in her pen and pad for a badge and a gun. [...]