The first female police lieutenant in Carbondale had her doubts when she started 16 years ago.

Lt. Heather Reno said she was concerned when she started because she wasn’t from southern Illinois and was one of the few females in the department.

‘Here in particular I was pleasantly surprised,’ said Reno, who was offered the promotion upon the retirement of 26-year veteran Lt. John Echols. ‘I think that as a new officer – male or female – everybody has to prove themselves. The people here hold everyone to the same standard.’

Reno said she was thankful for the opportunity to be the highest-ranking female in the police department.

‘It makes me very proud that I am able to be a role model for women,’ she said.

Police Chief Jody O’Guinn said promotions are hard to come by in the Carbondale Police Department – for men or women. He said because it is a small department, the opportunity for promotion only comes around if an officer retires or leaves for another job.

Since there are few women in law enforcement to begin with, Reno said, statistically it took awhile for those few to work their way up.

‘We’re women; we get busy, we have kids and other things,’ she said. ‘There are few women (in law enforcement) who want to make the sacrifice to do what’s involved to get promoted.’

Reno, mother of two girls and wife of fellow Carbondale police officer Sgt. Stan Reno, spent nine years as a military police officer in the Illinois National Guard before she was offered a job at the police department.

She said joining the National Guard was her way of rebelling and proving her doubters wrong, but after going to military police school, she realized she wanted to make a career out of it.

The former midnight patrol sergeant said she’s still adjusting to her new role.

‘My heart is in patrol – that’s what I really like to do,’ Reno said. ‘But it bumps up my pension when I retire and that’s a benefit I’ll have until the day I die. It’s hard to say no to something like that.’

Reno performed outstandingly in the assessment center as well as in the written and oral tests given to each candidate, O’Guinn said.

He said for each of the last 15 years, Reno was instrumental in getting the department accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA), an organization that improves law enforcement by maintaining a body of standards.

‘(CALEA) has hundreds of standards that the department needs to meet,’ O’Guinn said. ‘(Reno) knows the ins and outs of the policies, so she brings that to the table.’

Patrol Sergeant Kevin Geissler, who answered directly to Reno as a training officer, said the new lieutenant has very good management and organizational skills.

‘I’m proud to have her as a supervisor,’ Geissler said. ‘I don’t really look at the fact that she’s a woman; just the fact that she’s the most qualified person for the job.’

O’Guinn said Reno breaks a common stereotype about women in law enforcement.

‘Many people think women are not as strong – both physically and mentally – as men; that they’re more suited for social work,’ O’Guinn said. ‘(That) is not the case at all with Lt. Reno. She’s a very strong-minded person, but she still does have that caring heart.’

O’Guinn said Reno also uses excellent communication skills to diffuse stressful situations in the streets as well as in the office.

Reno said the women in the department bring a different perspective to law enforcement.

‘(The department) deals with a lot of domestic situations,’ she said. ‘A lot of our officers here are young men who don’t have families and are not really comfortable around kids, so the moms in us come out and we help them understand dynamics with kids and parents.’