Female officers of Oakland's Police Department aren't lining up for spots on the canine unit. The job is tough for a number of reasons. For Stephanie, having no children was an important factor in her decision. While Garrahan hasn't received any questions about balancing work and family life, he noticed that male and female officers declined to try out for the team once they learned about the shooting test and the physical fitness tests. Garrahan also points out that the change in lifestyle may turn off many officers.
Dogs live with their handlers for the duration of their working lives.
If a handler works with a dog until its retirement, the dog can live out the rest of its lifetime with that person. For this reason, those best suited for the job live in houses instead of apartments. Stephanie is no exception. In addition to the perceived difficulties of the job, a lack of female officers on the canine unit stems from the lack of female officers in the Oakland Police Department itself. As of October 2000, there were 73 female officers compared to 497 male officers.