The three female officers on the DeKalb and University Police forces go through the same police training processes as their male counterparts.

The DeKalb City Police Department has just sent their first female officer, Lauren Lamz, to the Police Training Institute (PTI) at the University of Illinois in Champaign.

“We just got our first female officer,” DeKalb Police Department Lt. Beierlotzer said. “She started Feb. 1 at the training school at the University of Illinois.”

Lamz’s training will consist of a 400 hour, 10-week program including broad topics, such as police function and human behavior, patrol, patrol investigations, traffic and police proficiency, PTI Director Clifford Van Meter said.

He said police function and human behavior teaches officers how to handle child abuse, crowds and juvenile delinquents.

Patrol and patrol investigations train officers in report writing, vehicle stops, the fundamentals of investigation and crime scene processes, he said.

Van Meter said police trainees learn about the Illinois traffic code, how to handle traffic accidents and how to direct traffic in the traffic portion of the police training program.

Trainees learn the basics concerning driving, fire arms, first aid and CPR and defensive tactics (handcuffing) during the police proficiency segment of the training, Van Meter said.

He said this course is given to all law enforcement trainees, male and female.

“The course is absolutely identical for men and women,” Van Meter said.

However, physicals given by police departments may differ for men and women, he said.

“Women do a little less upper body work because they are built differently. For example, they cannot bench press the same, in general,” he said.

Van Meter said leg strength exams are identical for men and women. He said these exams are adjusted by age and sex and that a 46-year-old male or female will not have to do the same things as a 23-year-old male or female.

The University Police Department also has two female officers, Univeristy Police Lt. Kaiser said.

Officer Deborrah Pettit has been with the department since 1980 and officer Kathleen Guimond has been with the department since 1974, Kaiser said.

He said their duties are exactly the same as any male officer’s duties and their training was exactly the same.

“They (duties) are the same as all male officers,” Kaiser said.

He said female officers’ agility or physical training is somewhat different in that females might be required to do 25 push-ups whereas their male counterparts might be required to do 50 push-ups.

Kaiser said,”There might be some controversy over that aspect of the training,” but the physical training has much to do with the size and weight of the trainee.

Van Meter said all officers must pass PTI and when they do, they are required to take and pass the Illinois Local Governmental Law Enforcement Officer’s Training Board exam. This is a written exam of 200 questions, he said.

“If they pass (both the PTI and the written exam) they become officers,” Van Meter said.

Trainees who do not pass either exam can retake an exam at the request of the department, he said. He also said an individual cannot request permission to retake an exam and an exam can be retaken up to two additional times.

Van Meter said 40 to 50 out of the 400 trainees this year are female.

DeKalb Lt. Beierlotzer said some women had started the training program but were eliminated or did not finish the process through their own choice.