APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Appleton Police and Fire Commission is announcing the city’s first female police chief.
Current Assistant Chief of Police Polly Olson will take over for retiring chief Todd Thomas, beginning Jan. 4. Olson said Tuesday that the transition has already begun.
Olson, a life-long Appleton resident, joined the department in 2001 and served in several different roles before becoming the assistant chief in May 2021. Before her career in law enforcement, Olson served as the deputy coroner for Outagamie County.
“I am honored to serve as the first female Chief of Police for the City of Appleton,” said Olson. “I am excited to continue to build on our foundation of excellence in police service and am committed to strengthening community relationships through our continued neighborhood policing efforts.”
Olson says she’s ready for the challenge of being the new one in charge.
“I’m really hoping that we can continue to work on our recruiting efforts, bring in more women and more diverse candidates to our force.”
Only 12% of sworn officers across the U.S. are women. Only three percent are in leadership positions, according to 30×30, an initiative to advance women in policing.
“That’s certainly not enough,” said Olson. “Three percent is not nearly enough.”
Olson says she’s truly honored to be the first female police chief of Appleton and hopes it can inspire others to join the force.
“Anytime you have a woman in a leadership position like this, where it’s typically male-dominated, that it sets the standard for other women to think, ‘This is something that I can do hopefully.’
Research suggests that women officers are perceived by communities as being more honest and compassionate and see better outcomes for crime victims, especially in sexual assault cases.
“I’m very committed certainly to community safety here and continuing the long tradition of excellence and policing this department has historically had,” said Olson.
“She’s humble, which is what a leader needs,” said retiring Chief Todd Thomas.
Thomas says he couldn’t be happier that Olson is taking over.
“I know she’s doing this for the right reason. She’s doing it to help the employees that work here that do the really tough jobs, and she’s doing it for the community that she loves.”
Olson says she hopes girls in the community will look to her as chief and see that leadership roles can be accomplished by anyone who puts their mind to it.
“Hopefully our high school students out there, our female high school students, all of them can look at this as being something they can aspire to.”
Olson has previously been recognized as the Woman Officer of the Year by the Wisconsin Association of Women Police, as the Crisis Intervention Team Officer of the Year by NAMI Fox Valley and Officer of the Year by the Appleton Police Department.
