Women fight crime, train soldiers and keep inmates in check with their no-nonsense but measured approaches. Now, for International Women’s Day, they tell reporter Fiona McWhirter how they have mastered careers in uniform.

For Inspector Karema Flood, of the Bermuda Police Service, there have been marked changes since she started with the organisation 22 years ago.

She said: “When I joined we were still using the title WPC – for woman police constable, and we used to wear the different hats – the white with the black rim – to distinguish us.

“We definitely changed from that.”

Ms Flood added: “I think the aim of it was really to show that we’re just police officers and that it was no reason to separate.

“You can look at a woman and tell she’s a woman, you don’t need to say woman police constable.

“I think it was just trying to break down those gender barriers and the roles had all assimilated.”

The mother of a three-year-old son has spent most of her service in the crime department and is now based at Hamilton Police Station in the community policing division.

She said: “Looking over my career, there have been times when, yes, you definitely could have benefited from having a male colleague there, who may have been stronger and taller and things like that, it isn’t just because it’s a male but if they had those attributes, then yes, it could make you feel safe.

“But then I also found that sometimes, as a female, we may have been able to defuse a situation because of that.

“When you think of some of the people that we interact with that had a lot of respect for females – their mothers, their grandmothers, their sisters and things like that – the interaction was a little bit different … you’re bringing different qualities.”

Colour Sergeant Shanté Arnold enlisted in the Royal Bermuda Regiment in 1998 and has been a full-time member of staff there for the past seven years.

She said: “When I came in and did various training, once we passed a certain stage and were able to go in to the regular companies … females were only allowed to either be a medic, a chef or cook, or signals, which is communications.

“Now, females can be section commanders, platoon sergeants, officers even, so it’s a big change.”

Colour Sergeant Arnold added: “I'm happy for the females that were allowed to go that path … I just wish I would have had the same opportunities.”

She is now an instructor for the Regiment’s B Company and tries to encourage women coming through the ranks.

Colour Sergeant Arnold said: “To see females come in and they don’t know what’s happening, then to see them show leadership qualities or that they have that spirit about them, it’s a beautiful thing.”

She added: “When I came in we were treated exactly the same as the males, the same as today – women are treated exactly the same, as they should be.”

Colour Sergeant Arnold said: “What I do want a female to understand when she comes in is that there are standards that have already been set.

“They need to adhere to the standards, don’t try to come in and do your own thing.

“I say that in the sense of your deportment – your hair, your nails, the whole way you look in uniform.

“You need to be held to the same standard as everybody else.”

As an employee in the Department of Corrections, Jasmine Brunson has been particularly mindful of how she approaches her work.

She said: “Sometimes it’s difficult being a female and being young.

“Most of the inmates, when I first started, were older so you have to make sure that you carry yourself very professionally and set your standard very early.”

Ms Brunson, an acting divisional officer, added: “I’ve never had anybody being aggressive towards me.

“One of the things that I did – advice I got from a senior officer – was I don’t ask, for the most part, what people’s offences are.

“I deal with people as they are when the come in, so there are no preconceived notions of them.”

Ms Brunson said she had been encouraged to aim for promotions and had trained overseas at a prison for young offenders.

She believed that International Women’s Day was an important opportunity to show how tough women can be.

Ms Brunson said: “I think that the strength of a woman is sometimes very overlooked, as women can take on a lot and keep calm.

“The message that it sends is that you can go as far as you want to and at the end of the day, as a woman, you are your biggest obstacle and your biggest setback.

“It’s completely up to you as to where you go and what you want to do.”

Naomi Lema is a station duty officer with the Bermuda Police Service and highlighted how her background in customer service had helped to prepare her for the role.

She explained: “You get all sorts of people come in – they’re having a good day, they’re having a bad day.

“I just treat everybody like they’re a human being, like anybody else. I don’t know what they’re there for so I just take it as it goes and by the time they leave, they’re smiling.”

Ms Lema, who has a 15-year-old daughter, added: “Sometimes you get one or two of the guys that come in, they think they can just get over you, but some of them you can calm them down and get them to a level.

“Sometimes you have to call somebody else like a sergeant or something but it’s not intimidating. If it is, you just get somebody else that will come and assist you.

“It’s manageable.”

She insisted women were “just as capable as anybody else”.

BPS Constable Kimberley Spring pointed out: “I am the person they call to fix everything around here.”

She said that her daughters – aged 26, 25 and 17 – grew up around police officers, which encouraged a positive perspective of the organisation.

Pc Spring said: “They see the way that I carry myself and they try to be like me, in a certain sense.”

She added: “Being with them at a young age was important, which is why I never went for promotion because it didn’t fit the lifestyle.

“Thankfully, I’ve done a good job with them because they don’t smoke, drink, party or get involved with the gang culture.”

LaVerne Smith is a principal customs officer.

She said: “When I joined the Customs Department in the 1980s, female officers were only issued skirts, heels and pantyhose, I thought I was transported back to the Victorian era.

“Thankfully, this changed due to an increase in the number of females joining the service who were capable of carrying out the same duties as their male colleagues.”