After a rigorous testing and interview process, Sgt. Rosalie Gerkin recently made Washington history when she was promoted to sergeant at the Washington Police Department.
Gerkin, who said she does not think of it as a gender thing, is the first female officer to be promoted to sergeant in Washington.
“Police work is police work,” she added.
Police Chief Jim Kuchenbecker said Gerkin’s first official day as sergeant is April 16.
Kuchenbecker added that there were a lot of factors in promoting Gerkin.
“She was No. 1 on the list in terms of scores,” he added.
Gerkin said she decided to test for sergeant because the timing was right to apply.
“Ashley is at college and Alex is 17,” she said about her children.
Gerkin said the process was not easy.
“The testing was very involved and it was not easy,” she said, “but I didn’t expect it to be.
Det. Lyle Baele will cover the rest of the school year as the school resource officer at Washington Community High School.
Five officers applied to be the new SRO at the beginning of the school year in August.
Kuchenbecker said he did not believe the choice for the new SRO is his alone.
“We are going to involve (WCHS superintendent Jim) Dunnan and other administrators in the interview process,” he said, adding that after the interviews he, Deputy Chief Don Volk and Det. Sgt. Jeff Stevens will discuss each candidate.”
Following recommendations, Kuchenbecker said he will then ultimately make the selection and appoint the new SRO.
Gerkin said she is not sure how much input she will have as the outgoing SRO, but she does know she is not part of the interview process.
Kuchenbecker said he talked to Dunnan about setting up interviews.
The Washington Police Department has seen several other firsts, including the formation of the Citizen Police Academy and the appointment of the first ever deputy police chief.
