Have you ever been the “first” in something? Maybe the first person in your family to go to college or the first person in your family to buy a house? Maybe you were the first ethnic family to move into a neighborhood? Whatever “it” was, how did it feel? You may have felt scared, nervous, doubtful, fearful, exhilarated or a mix of all of those feelings.
In May, Police Officer Renee Dominguez stood on the Stratford High School stage, alongside her husband (also a police officer) and her two daughters. With her hand raised, Renee Dominguez was sworn in by Mayor Chess as Chief of Police, and holds the title of being the first female police chief in Stratford.
I sat down with Chief Dominguez, in her new (and yet to be decorated) office at the Stratford Police Department last week. I expected to be incredibly nervous to be sitting alone with the chief of anything (but especially our local police), but I was not. I imagine I’d feel the same nervousness if I were sitting down with DCP/DIG Chaturvedi (haven’t you watched New Delhi Crime on Netflix? No? You should). I digress. Chief Dominguez is so much nicer than Chief Chaturvedi, and she smiles!
One of the many things that surprised me during our hourlong conversation was how much she smiled. There is a warmth about her that is refreshing. In the speech she gave at her swearing in ceremony on May 8th, she said, “I am a cops’ cop.” In my interview, I asked her what she meant by that statement. “I ask a lot of the officers, especially to meet my expectations. I asked that of them because I did that [job]. I understand what you’re doing, and what you’re dealing with. When I ask you [officers] to do more, I am also looking at it from the view of the community,” she said.
A report published by the National Policing Institute stated that in 1974 there were 1,000 female police officers, and in 2024 there were approximately 96,000 female police officers across the United States. As female officers move up the ranks and into more leadership roles, that number drastically decreases. In Connecticut, we have 95 municipal police departments, and of those 95, only one department is led by a woman— ours! In February 2026, Racheal Cain was sworn in as the first female to hold the position of Chief Inspector within the Office of Inspector General in the Division of Criminal Justice for the State of Connecticut.
During our conversation, Chief Dominguez reflected on how hard she had to work over the years as a woman working in a male dominated field, proving that as a female police officer, you can take a punch so your partner (often a male) does not need to come to your rescue. She said, “There are a different set of challenges women face all the way though. I’ve had amazing mentors, and it didn’t matter my gender. I think you don’t see as many female police chiefs, [because] maybe there are women who don’t feel they are ready to promote. Women, by nature, ask am I ready? In the department, you have to wait for someone to retire in order to get the opportunity again (when a position opens up). So keep pushing. To our female officers, my advice would be don’t give up, have the confidence in yourself as some of your male counterparts do. When the opportunity comes, take it..you don’t know if you will ever get it again…the more women who get into the positions, the confidence in others will grow.”
It is the diversity of our community of 54,000+ residents that drew her to Stratford. “It’s like New Haven in that there are these affluent homes and then there is a stark difference in the type of crimes there, and you go a street down, and there are different challenges. As a police officer, you can understand that you can help bring the town together. As you drive through [Stratford] town, it changes as you drive around, like in New Haven. I am looking forward to understanding the whole community.”
Perhaps I watch too many crime shows, but what holds true of the best shows out there and what our police department is improving upon is community policing. “I want to build on what we already have because there are great programs in Stratford already. I want to make them even more vibrant, and expand on the Explorer’s Program and others,” she said. She went on to share, “I want to make sure that the community trusts our officers, and that you’re going to get a fair police officer when you call. And it’s [the response from the officer] going to be done tactfully and it’s going to be explained. Even just to say, I am going to explain it to you, I just need you to calm down. And not when a police officer takes out their bad day on the community, if they are feeling undervalued in the office or having a bad day.”
When someone becomes a police officer, I asked Chief Dominguez about “turning off,” and what that looks like for her. She confirmed what I believed to be true, that you never really turn off, even on one’s days off. Going out in public, “you are more aware,” because of one’s training, Chief Dominguez said.
But like you and me, she has her favorite foods and hobbies! And unlike those female police chiefs we see on television, our Chief of Police, Renee Dominguez, is a real life Wonder Woman, with two daughters, a husband, and hobbies. When she is not supervising the 112+ officers in our police department, she can be found cheering for her daughter on the softball field. Or enjoying her favorite meal of the day: breakfast (pancakes with syrup, of course). Or she can be found (at 5 a.m.) engaging in one of her favorite activities – Crossfit.
You can learn more about Chief Dominguez’s career path here.
