Dawn Williams (now, Tondini) can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a police officer.
As a baby she loved to dress up in her father’s police hat, and his leather slapstick was her favorite teething ring. When she learned to read, she turned first to her dad’s police training books.
Her ambition became reality recently when the 27 year old was sworn in as the first female patrol officer in the Marion Police Department. She has worked as a dispatcher for the department since April 1992, and was a member of the police auxiliary for 1 ½ years before that.
“I can’t tell you any certain time when I decided I wanted to be a police officer. It’s just always what I wanted to do,” Williams said.
Her father, Frank Cooper, is a crime scene supervisor for the state police. Williams hopes some day to become an investigator as well, lured by the “in-depth” work it entails.
“My father has always known what I wanted to do and helped me out any way he could, the stood by my decision,” Williams said.
Williams is a Marion High School graduate and received an associate’s degree in criminal justice from John A. Logan College. She will attend a 10 week police training program this fall and be ready to patrol on her own.
Marion Police Chief Ron Swafford said the department had an opening and selected Williams as the best qualified candidate. Gender did not play a part, although he thinks it is an advantage to have a woman officer.
“It helps the department by her being female, but her being a woman wasn’t the reason she was transferred to the street patrol,” Swafford said. “I felt we had an opportunity to do it and she happened to be in the department and she’s qualified.”
Williams never encountered resistance to her role in law enforcement, even when she rode with officers as a member of the auxiliary. In fact, she said, she often has found that women and men speak more comfortably with a female officer.
“In domestic disputes, a lot of women would just prefer to talk with another woman. I heard that comment a lot, that it was nice to see a woman on the police force,” she said. “Sometimes even men will talk better with a woman because they don’t feel threatened.”
Williams and Swafford said they are not worried about her size being a problem in dealing with physical confrontations. Pepper spray has diminished the need for force in many confrontations, she said. Besides, Swafford said, it doesn’t take a 300 pound tackle to handle the job.
Swafford said the department likely will hire more female patrol officer when openings occur.
(Southern Illinois article by Elizabeth A. Green, August 1993)
Sam’s Notes: Since this article occurred, Dawn Williams became Dawn Tondini and according to current Police Chief John Eibeck, Dawn was promoted to Lieutenant late in 2013 and is now the 3rd highest ranking officer in the department.