CBS Highlights NJIT Public Safety's Groundbreaking All-Women 48-Hour Shift

The weight of the badge is the same, but the story behind it is profoundly different. NJIT’s Department of Public Safety is taking progress to a new high-water mark when the March 24-25 shift will be staffed completely by its women. Featured on CBS New York, this dedicated team is demonstrating that though the job for those 48-hours is no different than any other, its significance cannot be ignored. 

Chief Kevin Kesselman said that the historic shift during Women’s History Month will showcase the competence and dedication of NJIT’s female officers and serve as a powerful symbol of the strides women have made in traditionally male-dominated fields.

Kesselman, who was promoted to chief in 2022, went to work right away on making an impact by joining the “30x30” initiative, a nationwide pledge calling for 30% of police recruits to be women by 2030. The department had only two sworn female officers at the time.

"I had a female partner for nine years in my career when I was a detective and a detective sergeant, and she kept me out of every piece of trouble I could ever get into and said 'Kevin, bad idea, let's not do this. Kevin, you know, we got to speak a little bit softer with this,'" Kesselman told CBS. "She really threw that empathy into me, and I said, our profession really needs more empathy."

Since NJIT joined the pledge, 29% of the department's 42 sworn officers are now women. This at a time when, according to the Bureau of Justice, women make up less than 14% of sworn officers. However, research indicates that women use less force, are named in fewer complaints and achieve better outcomes for crime victims.

Captain Heather Glogolich, one of the first hires, helped institute the cultural shift.

"There is this softer side of policing that has to be put in there because it allows for situations to be de-escalated easier, to not have to use force in a certain way," Glogolich said.

More than a Reduction in Crime

“Community engagement” is the mantra in the public safety office, and it’s not just symbolic. Officers have taken noticeable steps in being more visible on campus. Things like their regular meet-and-greets and their participation in the Navy Seal Hudson River Swim have helped them put names to faces. But they also have changed operations to include the goal of making individual touch points with students, faculty and staff for every single officer on every single shift.

The product of these efforts is both a reduction in crime, and an increase in satisfaction and trust with the force, simple yet effective relationship building.

The officers’ efforts in being more involved in campus life were highlighted with their partnership and participation in memorializing Amber Morgan, an alumna of NJIT and member of NJIT’s women’s basketball team who was a victim of domestic violence.

"It's nice knowing that they actually support, and it is like, it makes it more of a relationship, not just police officer and student. It's just like, friend," Kyleigh Welsh, a member of NJIT’s women’s basketball team, said.

Officer Jenna Waldron hopes their efforts in reaching out and partnering with all the different groups on campus will help students feel more comfortable approaching them.

"I want them to come to me. I want them to come to the department, feel comfortable talking to anybody for any situation that they encounter," she said.