Page 54 - March 2022

Real Women Wear Badges
Multi-Talented
Hina Jafri has developed a unique set of skills to serve above and beyond the Department
n BY BRITTANY KRUGEL
In 1978, Chaka Khan debuted her hit “I’m Every Woman.” The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Fourteen years later, Whitney Houston brought the sin- gle back into the spotlight. The anthem that these pop divas made so popular and such a source of pride for so many women could also describe Chicago Police Officer Hina Jafri.
A certified nurse, Jafri left that position to come on with CPD 14 years ago. She spent nine years on patrol in the 10th Dis- trict before moving to the academy. She has also been in the U.S. Army Reserve for 10 years, where she has commanded more than 1,000 troops.
Jafri is one of the amazing women of the Chicago Police Department who have built a unique skill set to not necessarily do it all but to do everything they can to serve and protect.
“There’s a lot of amazing women that have really, really broken the barriers for the rest of us,” Jafri asserted. “For me, it’s continuing that barrier to be broken and not becoming solidified again. So with that, you have to understand that it’s not just about you, it’s about a lot of people, including other women.”
Jafri’s work at the academy focuses on writing a curriculum aligned with the Illi- nois Law Enforcement Training and Stan- dards Board (ILETSB). She has covered topics from human trafficking to educat- ing future officers on the proper use of Narcan, something that has enabled Jafri to bring her passion for nursing into play.
Jafri’s job is keeping up with the hot topics when it comes to training recruits. But if you think she goes home and takes a rest at night or on the weekends, think again.
Not only is she engaged in protecting the public, but she has also treated them firsthand. In June 2011, Jafri was commis- sioned by the military and entered as a nurse.
“They were short on nurses, and I was in the business of being a nurse,” she ex- plained. “So I said, ‘OK, let’s do this.’”
Jafri is still “doing this” today. Right now, she’s traveling to Little Rock, Arkan- sas, one weekend a month to participate in drilling with 94th Alpha company. Her
54 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MARCH 2022
Hina Jafri, right, has been on with the Depart- ment for 14 years, having worked patrol in 010 before moving to the academy.
love for the military runs that deep.
“It just teaches you different ways of handling things,” Jafri commented. “One of the examples I could give you is when we did medical readiness, and we were doing mental health readiness, too. And you come across people that are suicid- al, and all of a sudden, you’re like, ‘Whoa, hang on a second. This is beyond just vac- cinations or whatever the heck we’re deal- ing with.’ Those kind of things teach you humanity, human levels, a different level. It just teaches you leadership. It teaches you communication, it teaches you so much about yourself. How you handle things, what you fear, what you don’t fear, what you’re good at. So a lot of that comes
from the military.”
It’s possible that Jafri’s love for the mili-
tary stems from the time she spent work- ing in the 10th District on the front lines. In the midst of working on her nursing degree, Jafri was working for the Aviation Police, which led to her being interested in joining the Chicago Police Department.
You want to talk about a woman who can do it all? She graduated from the academy just four months after finishing nursing school. That led Jafri to do both; on her days off from policing, she would work as a hospital floor nurse.
“It was great, because they’re two oppo-
Jafri is a U.S. Army Reservist, serving as a nurse.
site ends of the spectrum,” Jafri detailed. “It humbles you. Nursing humbles you. CPD is like the opposite of what humanity is. The stuff that you see is just like, how can people do this to each other? And then you go and you be a nurse, and you’re like, ‘Wait a minute. There’s a different side of humanity that’s good and needed.’”
Jafri said she can see the similarities in policing and nursing daily, having to be the voice for her department and for her patients.
“I think the advocating part is learned through nursing, advocating for your pa- tient, but advocating for the police, the patrol becomes important because you kind of become the voice in some senses,” she added.
Being a voice, as Jafri has learned, has meant paving the way for the officers coming after her, especially the women. That starts with going above and beyond the call of duty, just as her male counter- parts would.
“You understand that you are a female that’s going to have to deal with whatev- er comes your way,” she noted. “Chicago’s not a weak city to police. And when you’re dealing with scenarios or calls where you’re responding either by yourself or even if you have another officer with you — and a lot of times my partners were, by choice, females — you understand that you are a female that’s going to have to deal with whatever comes your way. And so I have always been a female police of- ficer.”