Police at Indiana University are signing a pledge to hire more women to become police officers.

IUPD Chief Jill Lees is in charge of all the department’s agencies at all its campuses across the state. She tells WISH-TV it’s part of a nationwide push for more female officers to be hired called the “30 x 30” pledge.

“30 by 30 is an initiative where agencies sign a pledge to hire 30 percent of women by 2030 or have their agencies comprised of 30-percent female officers,” Lees said. “But, also to create the policies to help support, retain women on police departments.”

IUPD is already getting close to that goal in 2022. Lees said the department is currently made up of 20 percent women. Throughout the rest of the country, the National Institute of Justice says 13 percent of all law enforcement in the US are women.

Lees, who is the former chief of police for the town of Plainfield, added that the initiative is about more than just the numbers.

“It’s about really ensuring that we’re doing the right thing,” she said. “With the pledge they require us to submit baseline data and a survey of the current female officers to gauge what we can improve.”

Lees said it’s imperative that more women be hired as police officers, especially since she feels that the community is more receptive to female officers when it comes to engaging with students on IU campuses, which she says makes every officer’s job easier.