Fairbanks’ first black policewoman is part of a growing female presence in the force
Published Monday, June 23, 2008
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Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — The toughest part about becoming a cop for Temeka Rott was taking a polygraph test that all recruits are required to pass.
It wasn’t that she had anything to hide, but having to answer a bunch of questions — she’s not allowed to divulge what they were — and knowing her future dream depended on the responses, was enough to put a person — even a future cop — on edge.
“You know you’re not going to lie about anything, but the fact you have to take it makes you anxious and nervous,” Rott said, flashing a big smile that belies the tough cop image.
Rott passed the test and now wears badge No. 313 for the Fairbanks Police Department, becoming the first black woman officer in the history of the department.
Not that Rott, 24, considers herself a pioneer who is breaking down racial barriers. She didn’t even know she was the first black woman on the force until she was told by Lt. Dusty Johnson, a 29-year Fairbanks police veteran who has retired and is now an instructor at the Tanana Valley Campus Law Enforcement Academy.
“I honestly had no clue,” said Rott, who moved to Fairbanks a year and a half ago from Colorado Springs, Colo., with her husband, Travis, who is stationed at Fort Wainwright.
She is one of five women on the 46-person force, the highest number ever, said Lt. Tara Tippett, the highest-ranking and longest-tenured woman on the force.
“When I started in 1994, there was only one other woman,” Tippett said.
The national average for women officers in law enforcement is 10 percent, she said.
“This is the first time we’ve ever reached 10 percent women,” Tippett said.
Tippett said there are advantages to having more women on the force.
“The women’s locker room used to be an oversized bathroom,” she said. “You literally got out of the shower and stepped into a locker.
“Now the women’s locker room is as big as the men’s.”
It would be nice to have another woman move up in the ranks and be promoted to sergeant or lieutenant, she said.
Someday, that could be Rott, who said she hopes to make a career out of her job in Fairbanks. But for now, she’s still trying to get a handle on being a patrol officer.
“Right now, I just want to get a grip on patrol and maybe move into a specialized unit down the road,” Rott said.
Her first day on patrol was May 18. She will be accompanied by an experienced officer for the first three months for training purposes.
There have been some exciting calls in her first month on the job, a few burglaries, some reports of shots being fired, but the biggest adrenaline rush came last weekend when she and her training officer, Doug Welborn, responded to a standoff involving an armed man with a gun in an apartment in east Fairbanks. The man, who police said was coming down from a three-day cocaine high, had threatened his girlfriend during an argument by shooting through the wall of a house in South Fairbanks before taking refuge in the apartment.
Rott and Welborn were among the first to arrive on the scene. They “assisted with establishing a perimeter around the building and making contact with the suspect,” said Rott, demonstrating that she has police-speak down.
The suspect and another man in the apartment surrendered to police without incident, but just playing a small role in the standoff was a big lesson, Rott said.
“It was definitely a great learning experience,” Rott said. “We talked about how it could play out, why we were parked where we were, the reason we hold our guns the way we do.”
Rott was 16 when she decided she wanted to become a cop. She was inspired by a female police officer named Mereesha Hale she met at a school job fair in Colorado Springs, where she grew up. Hale, who stood 5-feet-3-inches and weighed 115 pounds, made a big impression on Rott, who isn’t much bigger at 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds.
“She was so little, and I thought, ‘If she can do it, I can do it,’” Rott said.
Hale, whom Rott still talks to, suggested Rott go on a ride-along with her. Rott got her parents to fill out the paperwork and accompanied Hale on patrol.
“It was very interesting,” Rott said.
When she got out of high school, Rott joined a local volunteer fire department in Colorado Springs and became an EMT because she was too young to join the police force.
“You had to be 21 to be a police officer but 18 to be a medical assistant,” she said.
Rott was studying to be a dispatcher in Colorado Springs when she found out her husband was getting stationed at Fort Wainwright. She contacted the Fairbanks Police Department to see about becoming a dispatcher here. The department mailed her an application, she filled it out and mailed it back. Within a month, she was working as a dispatcher.
Working as a dispatcher gave Rott a taste of what cops do, but she wanted to take a bigger bite out of crime.
“I wanted to be on the other side and have an active role with people,” she said.
In her off-time, Rott calls herself a “homebody.” She likes to go hiking, and this winter she took up snowboarding. Rott is bracing for her husband’s third deployment to Iraq in September. He is part of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
“It’s going to be tough, but I’ve got great support from people here at work and in the community,” Rott said.
Contact staff writer Tim Mowry at 459-7587.
Community Discussion
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After all these years we are still labeling people. The first this and the first that. Is being a successful young woman not enough? I mean why does she have to be the first (black) woman to become a Fairbanks Police Officer. I congratulate her on her achievement though. Being a Police Officer is tough work regardless of gender or race. What I am saying is that we all should start accepting all people as people instead of celebrating racial differences all the time. For instance many people see Obama as the first black president of the United States. In my opinion it does not matter what color he is. I see him as a very intelligent and successful human being who has done all the right things for himself to be in the position he is in life.
AND we will know we are done when there is no longer a "first woman ANYthing" as a label, no matter what her racial heritage! Still taking baby steps. . .good work Ms. Rott, and welcome to the ranks.
The Truth nailed it. Labels demean people. Man or woman, white, black or indiferent, we are all the same beings and deserve nothing less than equal treatment until we prove we are not worthy by our actions.
So much for Alaskan hire. She'll be gone in 3/4 years
when her husband gets transferred again. All that
money wasted. An Alaskan would be around for
years to come and been a good investment. So,
Fairbanks is paying for her training Stateside.
Alaskan's first should apply to all long term jobs
in Alaska, so we can reap the dividends of paying
for a person's training. If there is danger, she is
going to pull back and not risk herself, knowing it
will only be a job for a short time and then a transfer.
"For instance many people see Obama as the first black president of the United States."
I know this is way off topic however,
Barack Hussein Obama is 50% Caucasian from his
mother's side and 43.75% Arabic and 6.25% African Negro from
his father's side. While Barack Hussein Obama's father was
from Kenya, his father's family was mainly Arabs.. Barack
Hussein Obama's father was only 12.5% African Negro and 87.5%
Arab (his father's birth certificate even states he's Arab,
not African Negro).
Does the Republican party approve of that message Geek?
Why not give the woman credit? She worked to get a job that she wanted and in the process became the "first something". I'm pleased that Rott knew what kind of career she wanted and made it happen. There's nothing demeaning about that.
I am so tired of hearing about Alaskan hire. Should we just go without services if they aren't Alaskans? The reason we don't have Alaskans filling these jobs is that they either leave the state as young adults, don't get the proper education for the job, or don't want to work period, or are outperformed by better prospects outside the state. Alaska is a transient workplace, get used to it. Alaskans have every oppertunity to go out of state and be trained with Alaskan dollers to become law officiers but the truth is they just don't do it. Maybe they are afraid to leave the state for a few months?
I keep hearing that the gasline should be 100% Alaskan hire. Gee, lets see how many Alaskans have built a gas line in the past say....never! People are hired because they have experience. So when the gas line is finally approved and on its way, put out the welcome mat for the Texans, Bamas, and Wyomingites. See folks, they actually build pipelines in those states and are very good at it.
Maybe Temeka will move on in the future, but if we build a community that people just can't seem to leave then maybe she will be back. Oh, did I just propose making our community like other cities, I appologize, I don't have the longevity here in Alaska to propose such things and I'm not from California!
Good Luck Temeka here and wherever you may serve the American People!
the truth
"For instance many people see Obama as the first black president of the United States"
It think you are a little ahead of your self Obama needs to be elected before any one calls him president, black, or anything else.
Now about the article…
Being the first woman to break into a stereotyped male job, Being black and breaking into a well under 50% police population in Fairbanks, being both the first woman and black, is something to celebrate. Brake down those walls!!! This is not only a great personal achievement for her but by celebrating as a community the integration of different colors and sexes into stereotyped jobs it is a great day for Fairbanks too.
Temeka Rott, Good job and I wish you luck!
SaltCreekBoy- Alaskans are for All Alaskan hire because we see to many people come up here to make money and send it to their families out of state. it would be nice to see the money that we pay people to work, being spent in this state supporting our community! They will come and work for the summer take all that money to the lower 48 and claim a dividend. Sorry if that bothers you but most people that live here feel the same way! Also we don't want to live like every other city/community. Most people stay here to get away from all that!
Congratulations Ms Rott
SaltCreekBoy:
I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!!!
Burke, why get on here and leave nasty comments/remarks??? Do you know this woman personally? If not, then do not get on here and say how long she is going to be around, and especially dont get on here and question her integrity as to dangerous situations. As a matter of fact you just questioned the PD's integrity by saying they might hire someone who would not do their job. Congratulations on a great achievement MS. Rott!!
burke,
Do you have any idea how hard it is to become a cop in Alaska? Trust me I know personally. I have applied for Fairbanks and without the academy it is very hard to get hired. As well as for the other agencies I applied for and am waiting to hear back. So what if she leaves in a few years? She may not. I am case in point. I was active duty Army, got out and am now in the Air Guard as an Air Force Cop and have been working with active duty, so there is no way you can know if Officer Rott is going to leave or not. I have spoken and rode with some FPD officers and know some AST's as well. Their requirements are quite high, and in saying that she wouldn't do her job is stupid.
Good Luck Officer Rott and hopefully one day I will have the privilege of working with you.
Unless you are native you and your families are likely (statistically) to only have arrived in the past 50 years. Alaska-hire? Maybe she and her husband will establish a new long-term Alaska family, enabling her children's children to gripe 50 years from now about how "outsiders" are moving here and taking jobs. Sigh.
Congrats to the first Black woman on the Fairbanks Police Department!!!!!!!!
Race does matter.
"In 1999 there were 757,000 black men in federal, state and local prisons," according to the Autumn 2003 issue of the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. "In 1999 . . . there were 604,200 African-American men enrolled in higher education in the United States. Therefore, there were 25 percent more black men in prison in the United States than were enrolled in institutions of higher education. Today, black men make up 41 percent of the inmates in federal state, and local prison, but black men are only 4 percent of all students in American institutions of higher education."
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/04/Column...
The reason for these kinds of statistics is not because Black men are inferior, but because their people have been oppressed by the government and society. Until Americans fully comprehend the effects of our country's former express policies and current implicit policies which blatantly discriminate against certain groups, race will continue to matter.
Shy, so now you want it both ways? You want all those people who work here and send their money out of state to stay here. No you don't! Those people's families live in communities that spend money on parks, recreation, downtown beautification, and cleaning up vacent lots. They love box stores and tree lined streets. Thats why they move up here for a couple of years and then move back while the wage earner stays on up here. And if they are collecting a dividend and not really living here, thats a problem of the state enforcement. If those people decide to stay here, trust me they will change Fairbanks into what they want it to be, not what "everybody" who has lived here their entire life wants. Look at Bend Oregon. Do you want that for Fairbanks?? And how is it possible that someone can live out of state and get a summer job over someone who lives up here? Sounds like the local person needs to do a little better job of selling themselves.
Hire whomever is the best qualified for the job then make Fairbanks a place they would like to stay.
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