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19 · Friday, September 7, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com SUBMITTED PHOTO Police Pioneer: Barb Gatt, who retired last month from the Halton Regional Police, was one Those were the days reflects retiring officer By Tim Whitnell METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP One of the first major decisions Barb Buckle had to make as a young police officer wasn't whether to draw or fire her weapon, but what to wear on the job. She was given the option of wearing a skirt and carrying a purse to hold her gun, and some heeled shoes, or going with pants. She opted for the less fashionable, more practical side-zippered pants. Gatt, 54, reminisced recently about being one of the first female officers on the beat in Halton, starting in 1976, and being a pioneer of sorts in another way -- as the driving force behind an early community policing initiative in the troubled Warwick Court/Surrey Lane row of apartments at the Aldershot gateway in Burlington. Recently, Gatt reflected on her nearly 37 years as a Halton Regional Police officer. The life-long Hamilton resident's last day on the job as a dispatcher at police headquarters in Oakville was Aug. 3. Gatt began as a rookie at the tender age of 18. She was 5-foot-6 and 125 lbs., right at the minimum height requirement and just five pounds above minimum weight. From a family of nurses and teachers, she initially planned to go to medical school, but switched her focus to law enforcement around the age of 16. Her police career began in 1976 as a cadet. For two years she rode along with a veteran officer. She had a uniform and had the power to arrest, but was not issued handcuffs or a weapon. In 1978, she was promoted to 4th Class Constable. At age 20, she was given the choice of a skirt and purse and a two-inch snub-nosed .38-calibre revolver, and shoes with a heel --"that would get caught in fences as I discovered" -- or of the very first female police officers to join the local police in 1976 and put in nearly 37 years of service. A serious injury in 1987 took her off the beat and forced her into a dispatcher job until retirement. pants with a side zipper, which was not easy when wearing a duty belt. She took the pants. She also requested, and was granted, a standard issue, four-inch .38 Smith and Wesson revolver. Gatt worked uniform patrol in Burlington, but travelled to all the other police districts in Halton since there were no other policewomen on her shift to provide care for female prisoners. She recalls the male-dominated police establishment was not too happy with the hiring of female officers in the mid-1970s. "It was a big change to have policewomen. You were breaking into a male-dominated role. Are you capable and strong enough and able to handle what you see?" She just did her job and enjoyed working with the male officers in 30 Division, patrolling from the Hamilton border to Guelph Line. "The platoon in Aldershot was a great bunch of guys. We got along and worked well as a team." Among the officers she worked closely with were Bill Puskas, Steve Skerrett, Earl Fletcher, John Stonehill and Ed Burtch. There were four other female officers on the force at the time. She remembers Jeannette Sykes, and Mary Staughton who died in 2010, and two others with the surnames Reid and Sherwood. That Gatt can't recall the first names of two of the female officers is understandable considering the near career-ending injuries she sustained in an on-duty incident in September 1987. Ironically, it was a crook, a teenager with the surname Crook, who ended her uniform career. Gatt said she stopped a young man at the plaza at Appleby Line and New Street because she had warned him about trespassing the day before. She checked and found he had someone else's driver's licence. "He also had a strand of pearls that didn't match his running shoes," she said. See Officers page 27 Join us at an Oakville Revera Retirement Residence of your choice as we host our Photography Series: Family and Pet Portraits Churchill Place Sunday, September 16th, 2 ­ 4 pm The Kensington Sunday, September 23rd, 2 ­ 4 pm Trafalgar Lodge Sunday, September 30th, 2 ­ 4 pm Photography Series RSVP today to schedule your complimentary photography session! Tours of our residence also available. Churchill Place 10655 08.12 The Kensington 25 Lakeshore Rd W Oakville 345 Church St Oakville 905-338-3311 905-844-4000 Trafalgar Lodge reveraliving.com Revera: Canadian owned for 50 years with more than 250 locations. 299 Randall St Oakville 905-842-8408