DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Police Department held its third Women’s Community Academy over the weekend, highlighting the push to bring in more female recruits.

About a dozen women attended the academy to learn more about a career in law enforcement. Among them was Maryssa Perez, who is already in the process of applying for a spot in the Denver Police Academy.

“I wanted to get hands on practice before I go — if I get into the academy,” said Perez.

The event was broken up into two days. First, the women learned about the career from current female DPD officers. Sunday was spent doing more hands on learning with some of the department’s less-lethal weapons like tasers and pepperball guns. The participants also had the chance to try out the interactive scenario simulator used by current officers.

“It’s a video setup, very realistic and very interactive,” said Barb Archer, Deputy Chief of Denver Police.

Archer says women make up about 15% of the department which is slightly above the national average of 12%. In her 31-year career in law enforcement, Archer has seen how valuable women are to the profession.

“They’re better at deescalating situations, women receive less complaints, they’re involved in less use of force incidents,” said Archer.

She says adding more women to the department is not only an improvement for the force, but also for the community as a whole.

“That’s what we really want to impress on women is you can do this job. This is a male-dominated field but women are doing it,” said Archer.

DPD plans to host a Women’s Community Academy before each recruiting cycle. Those plans were put on hold the past year due to COVID-19.