It’s something they knew they wanted to do since they were young. Now, Sgt. Samantha Puckett and Sgt. Bethany Schwartz are living their dream.
Only the third and fourth females to reach sergeant rank in the Billings Police Department’s history, having one, let alone two women serve at this rank simultaneously is rare.
“I’ve grown up as a tomboy, so I’ve kind of already been involved in that male dominated lifestyle. The males working here are fantastic, and it’s been interesting,” said Sgt. Schwartz. “When I got hired on, there had been a gap between females. I think it was like seven years give or take, but I think I was the ninth one hired at that time, and since then, there’s been obviously progression, so I think it’s awesome that more and more females get involved in a male dominated situation.”
The Billings Police Department currently has 14 female officers.
The female-to-male ratio can be seen at police departments across the nation.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the national average of sworn women police officers in city and county departments is approximately 13%, while state police organizations struggle to maintain half that number.
Their numbers may be small, but the social support is immense.
“I think everybody’s really supportive. I haven’t experienced anything where there’s ‘Oh you can’t do it because you’re a female.’ That’s not the case. That’s not how people think here,” said Sgt. Puckett.
When it came to making the jump from patrol officer to administrative sergeant, Puckett received nothing but encouragement from fellow officers.
“We’re all very supportive of each other in the department, and we want to see each other succeed,” Sgt. Puckett said. 
Both Puckett and Schwartz admit there’s a bit of a competitive edge that drives their success.
“Females can either compete against each other, or they can really support each other. And I feel like we have a really good support group,” said Sgt. Schwartz.
Hired by the Billings Police Department in September of 2009, Puckett’s one-year anniversary as sergeant was on Mar. 8, 2022.
She was a sergeant on night shift before she took on her current administrative role.
Now she’s helping officers as they begin their career with the Billings PD.
In charge of training and hiring, Puckett sees candidates through their interview process to field training.
Sgt. Schwartz happens to be the department’s newest sergeant, promoted on Feb. 28, 2022.
At the time of this interview, she was just days into her new role and still transitioning from her previous job as a Billings PD detective.
“I’m able to help victims who aren’t able to help themselves, provide them justice by doing their investigation and seeing it to fruition. I’ve been able to do that in a couple of homicides and primarily when I was in detectives, I did crimes against children, so technically those are true victims and I really enjoyed being able to help them,” Schwartz said.
New to the rank, but not new to the department, Sgt. Schwartz was hired in September of 2008.
Now a patrol sergeant, Schwartz provides guidance to officers, proofreads their reports, makes sure there is probable cause regarding arrests, confirms investigations are complete and properly documented.
During her time on patrol, Schwartz observed the qualities a female officer can bring to a 911 call that can sometimes present an extra challenge if a male officer is present.
“There are some circumstances where we can go to a hostile situation, where someone’s combative, and if I start talking to them, they’ll start mellowing out because I’m a female and just because of my voice. Being able to step in as a female, it’s interesting seeing how society reacts to us,” Schwartz said.
When Puckett and Schwartz meet other young women who dream of wearing a badge one day, their best advice is surrounding yourself with support.
“Whatever you dream that you want to do, you can make it happen. Other people might be naysayers and say that’s unrealistic, but I believe everyone has the potential to be the best that they can be as long as they believe in themselves,” said Sgt. Schwartz.
“Study hard, do well in school, stay out of trouble, never hesitate to reach out to somebody. If they see an officer on the street, if they have questions as they’re getting older and looking to go to college, or even into the military, or whatever route they decide to go, all of the officers, not just us females, would be supportive and give them advice,” said Sgt. Puckett.
To learn more about becoming an officer for the Billings Police Department and to download the application packet, click here.