You don't have to be the strongest or the biggest officer to be the most effective. You do have to have confidence in yourself and your training. Veteran male officers say female officers bring a different, much-needed perspective to the job. The presence of a woman can have a calming effect in situations where tempers and testosterone are pumped up. It isn't a glass ceiling.
Women face the same problems men face in a field based on the paramilitary system of ranks.
You start at the bottom, as a patrolman or at a similar rank in a town department, and move up slowly, taking about five years at every level. It can take 25 years to make it to the top job, depending on the size of the force. Some women start in police work, then put their careers on hold while raising their familes. Others use their training and discipline to move on to other lines of work. Few stay long enough to make it up the ladder.