The Impact News

Issue date: 4/15/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Armando Reyes "There and Back" - Joanne Naughton has broken down gender barriers in the NYC Poice Dept. and ran for District Attorney of Westchester, but is now an esteemed educator at Mercy College.

A Criminal Justice professor at Mercy College for the past eight years, Joanne Naughton has seen and worked in just about every aspect of the criminal justice system. From patrols and investigations, to undercover narcotics, politics and law, she attributes her unique background to her "if he can do it, then so can I" state of mind.
"I wanted to do everything. I wanted to work undercover in narcotics, and I did. I wanted to be on patrol, and I did. I wanted to see everything. And I got promoted," said Naughton.
Naughton's presence at Mercy is a testament to the college's commitment in providing students with specialized disciplines the opportunity to learn from professors with highly skilled professional backgrounds and a wealth of real world experience.
However, according to Naughton, that wealth of experience did not come without a great deal of struggle and perseverance, as she worked to break down gender barriers in the New York City Police Department.
Interestingly enough, police work was not what Naughton had originally planned for her life, but when a friend of hers began working in the field and her days seemed more exciting than Naughton's, she decided to enter the police academy with her two brothers, who were training to become transit police.
Naughton stated that when she first began working in the field, it surprised her, as a woman, to be earning a salary that was equal to that of the men she was working with, something that she tells The Impact was unusual in society during that time.
She states that it was exciting to have the chance to be paid fairly while also being able to experience parts of the city she had never seen before. But even with all the excitement that comes with being new to the force, Naughton could not ignore the reality of discrimination against women that existed within the police department at that time.
According to Naughton, the men there were not accustomed to working with women, who were still restricted from working in certain departments, such as homicide and theft.

Continued...

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