MINNEAPOLIS -- There is a first time for everything and Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau is no stranger to that territory.
When she was named top cop two and a half years ago -- she was the first female, the first openly gay woman, to ever hold the job.
But now she's created another first, although she said that had nothing to do with her decision, when she named a woman as her second in command.
"What will people think about two women in the top positions leading this department, but it doesn't sway me from picking the right person," Harteau said in an interview with her newly named assistant chief, Kris Arneson.
Arneson, a 31-year-MPD veteran is now Harteau's Assistant Chief and according to the National Center for Women and Policing they may be the only #1 and #2 females in major city police departments.
"Yes, I'm a woman but I'm also a cop and those two things blend together very well," Arneson said when asked about the gender issue.
That attitude comes after many years of being an 'other' in what society deemed a 'man's job' -- Arneson recalls her early days on patrol.
"I had cops from other departments say to me, 'they let two women ride together in Minneapolis?' It angered me because I didn't see myself as different than anyone else doing the job," Arneson recalled.
But that was decades ago and both Harteau and Arneson weren't intimidated at the question of how they will lead a male dominated workforce.
They said they will do it the exact same way they have been leading for the last 30 months.
With good effective communication and empathy.
And they know they will lead very different roles because they are very different people.
"Although we are both women, we bring different things to the table, just because we are both women doesn't mean we think and act the same," Harteau said.
