One on One with Markus — Sheilah Weber
When Weber first applied to work in policing, she was told they weren't hiring women
It's always been a dream of Sheilah Weber's to work in policing, but her path to deputy chief of police hasn't been easy.
"I just didn't want to do traditional jobs that women do," she said.
"I wanted to be outside. I wanted to be involved in the community and policing was just what I thought would be able to accomplish that."
Weber went to Cambrian College, graduated and started to look for work. But when she first applied for a job in policing, she was told they didn't hire women.
"So I went away [from policing] for a little bit," she said.
"I worked in door security. I worked in private investigating. I took some more courses and did some additional volunteer work and I thought to myself 'This isn't what I want to do, I want to be a police officer.'"
Four years later in 1988, she applied to be a police officer in Elliot Lake and was hired.
Policing in a small community
While working in Elliot Lake, Weber says she gained a lot of experience in a smaller community.
"I really got to specialize in child abuse cases, sexual abuse, domestic violence and the abuse of children was tough," she said.
"In the early years,I actually myself had two children and so being pregnant and being a police officer and working on those type of cases was hard."
Back to Sudbury
After working almost nine years in the community, Weber managed to get a job policing in Sudbury. She eventually started working in the Criminal Investigations Branch.
She's worked on numerous homicide investigations, including the high-profile Renee Sweeney case.
As for what it's like investigating murders and interacting with suspects who may be responsible for the crimes, Weber says she's learned people who have committed crimes are still human.
"You have to be able to relate to them and they have to be able to feel that they're not as bad as what they've done," she explained.
"Your job is to find the person who committed the incident, the vicious attack and do what the best you can to get all the facts. You do need to treat them with dignity and respect."
Deputy chief
Throughout the years, Weber worked in a variety of divisions within the police service before working her way up to superintendent. Recently, she was promoted to deputy chief of police, the first woman to do that job in Sudbury.
"I think I'm here because of the good work that came before me with a number of different women and male role models as well," she said.
"You have to work hard to get here."
Weber says she's not looking to change anything specifically within the police service, adding her focus will be on staff well-being.
"Our members are our most precious resource," she said.
"Without healthy and happy employees the community doesn't get the best service that they need. So really one of my goals is to ensure that the members get what they need to do their job effectively."