VPD: Yes, Kinley, ‘Girl Cops Are Awesome’

The Vancouver Police Department is holding an event to show girls of all ages that being a police officer is an “awesome” career choice. 

Girl Cops Are Awesome invites girls of all ages to the agency’s east precinct to tour the facility, look at vehicles and talk to female officers. 

The girl who inspired the event, 4-year-old Kinley Goertler from Camas, will be attending as a special guest. 

Kinley sparked a flurry of media attention after she went to the store with her mother, Chelsy Goertler, to buy a SWAT costume for Halloween. The girl was disappointed that the packaging indicated it was a boy’s costume, and Kinley’s mother described that disappointment in a Facebook post. 

“I was just upset that she was upset, mostly,” Chelsy Goertler said. “It was meant as more of a rant for my friends and family. It wasn’t anything beyond that.”

But law enforcement agencies caught wind of the post and responded with a clear message for Kinley: Girl cops are awesome. 

Goertler first got a call from a female chief of police in Tennessee, who sent a photo of female officers and agency patch. 

“I thought that was going to be it, but messages just kept flooding in from all over the place,” Chelsy Goertler said. 

Now, the Camas girl has received photos of female officers and patches from agencies in 46 states and several other countries. 

Kinley’s mother said that she plans to sew the patches into a quilt and make a photo book from all the photos sent to her. Her mother even created a Facebook page, Officer Kinley Goertler, to chronicle the messages she’s receiving. 

“I never expected it to become this,” she said. But, she said, she’s happy law enforcement are getting the positive media attention. 

“They need that right now with all the negativity toward them,” she said. 

The Vancouver Police Department also responded, sending Kinley a photo of five female officers posing in front of a patrol vehicle with a sign that read: “Girl cops rule!!” The agency also took it a step further by organizing an event and inviting girls of all ages to see how awesome it is to be a girl cop. 

“We thought, gosh, maybe there are more girls like Kinley,” Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said. “We really want to erase those stereotypes of what girls can or can’t do. They can do anything they want.”

The event will be at the Vancouver Police Department’s East Precinct, 520 S.E. 155th Ave., from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesday. 

Vancouver police Detective Deanna Watkins plans to attend the event because she learned of Kinley’s story and was touched.

“It meant a lot to me to see that this little girl wanted to make a difference,” she said. 

Watkins investigates allegations of child abuse, and said she’s looking forward to interacting with children in a more positive setting. Watkins said she hopes the event also acts as a way for the community to see police in a positive light. 

“It will be nice getting to see my influence in a positive way,” she said. “You hope that any young girl, or boy for that matter, goes after any goal or aspiration that they have.”

Chelsy Goertler said she is happy that Kinley inspired an event that will potentially help other girls.

“If they have any doubts like Kinley, then hopefully this will help them, too, to talk to police officers and see there are female police officers, too,” Chelsy Goertler said.

Kapp said the after-school event is meant to be a fun way for girls to meet inspiring people and find out more about what it takes to make law enforcement a career. Of its 184 sworn officers, the Vancouver Police Department has 23 female officers including two commanders, one lieutenant, three sergeants, one corporal and 16 officers, Kapp said. 

“We want girls to know that, absolutely, the policing industry is open to them. There are no barriers to getting hired,” Kapp said.