Even for police officers, rank isn’t everything.
Annapolis Police Officer 1st Class Amanda Benson was reminded of that on Oct. 16 when she was elected president of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Women in Law Enforcement.
She said she was elected to the position by a room full of female officers, from fellow officers first class to lieutenants, captains and chiefs.
“And [they were] happy about it and excited about it,” the 16-year veteran of the Annapolis Police Department said, adding that the experience reminded her of where these opportunities really come from.
“It’s the power that you put into it, the time that you put into it, the dedication that you put into it,” she said. “And to have all of these women of high rank support me was phenomenal.”
Since the mid-1980s, the Mid-Atlantic Association of Women in Law Enforcement has strived to promote women in that field. According to its website, the organization helps its members in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C., advance in the industry by providing training, educational scholarships and networking opportunities.
Annapolis Police Chief Ed Jackson said Benson is a good, hardworking cop who will make a great president for the organization. He said he is “elated” by the news.
“I’m so proud of her,” he said. “It’s good for Annapolis, it’s good for women in law enforcement and it’s good overall for the profession.”
In her two-year term as president, Benson hopes to get more women involved with the association. She said fellow female officers can benefit from going to the association’s annual conference for networking and training.
Benson said she has gone to six conferences. She became a lifetime member of the organization four years ago.
Benson recalled one training course where she learned about the consequences of sleep deprivation and how quickly it can catch up with you. She said she also remembers a course where the real-life investigators from the Netflix drama “Unbelievable” came to speak about the sexual assault case that the miniseries was based on.
But for Benson and other members, including retired officers, these conferences are also about the lasting bonds built among women in law enforcement.
Retired police officer Sarah Everette, who nominated Benson to be president of the organization, said she met Benson at a conference five years ago and the two hit it off instantly.
Everette, who served with the Chesapeake Police Department in Virginia until 2023, said she and Benson became Facebook friends. She said they would reach out to each other when they had career-related questions.
Benson said officers in the organization will contact one another to ask for other departments’ policies when it comes time to update their own. She said this is one way that police departments can get a feel for what other departments in the region are doing.
According to the National Policing Institute, in 2024, about 96,000, or 12% of police officers in the U.S., were women. That is about 96 times more women than there were in policing in 1974, according to the report.
Jackson said he remembers working in the early 1980s when a lot of male officers were “hesitant” about working with women. He said this organization “highlights the power of diversity.”
Everette said she thinks Benson will do a good job of spreading the word about the organization and getting young female officers acquainted with it. She said this is important because women are a minority in law enforcement.
Benson wasn’t surprised when she learned she had been nominated for the executive board of the organization. She said she knew prior executive board members of the organization had been urging her to join.
But to hear she had been elected president was still crazy.
“I was terrified,” she said, laughing. “I mean it’s a huge undertaking.”
Though she hadn’t been on the association’s executive board before, she was a chair for the 2023 conference, which was held in Annapolis. She said she helped with aspects like getting donations, securing the conference space and booking trainers.
Everette said she nominated Benson after seeing how Benson supports the Annapolis Police Department, the Annapolis community and the Mid-Atlantic Association of Women in Law Enforcement.
“I knew that she would pour that same effort and dedication into [the association] that she does into her career with Annapolis,” Everette said, later adding, “She really does go above and beyond in helping folks wherever their needs are.”
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