The North Dakota Highway Patrol has signed a pledge to bring more women into the Patrol.
It's called the "30 by 30" initiative.
"The goal is 30 percent women in law enforcement by the year 2030," said Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Brandon Solberg.
Solberg said right now, 12 percent of law enforcement officers are women – and around 3 percent of women are in leadership roles. He said meeting that goal will be a challenge.
"To get to 30 percent by 2030 will take a lot of heavy recruitment, and almost full classes (at the Patrol academy) of women," Solberg said. " That's probably not achievable by then. But the importance of signing this pledge is to publicly make a stance that we want to work towards this goal."
Patrol Sergeant Jenna Clawson Huibregtse said the Patrol has a lot to offer women.
"WE have great pay compared to most agencies in the state," Huibregtse said in an interview. "Great benefits."
Huibregtse said when you talk about the top 100 jobs for women, law enforcement is not on the list. But she said that's not the case for the women in the Patrol.
"We all know how great of a job law enforcement is," Huibregtse said. "We love it. If we get the opportunity to show people, maybe when they're riding along in the passenger seat of a squad car on a ride-along, we know more women would want to work in law enforcement."
