For the first female major of IMPD's investigations division, 'the sky's the limit'

The mile-and-a-half run on the first day at the law enforcement academy seemed easy enough for Catherine Cummings.

Cummings, who was a multi-sport athlete at New Castle High School and ran track at Indiana University, was among the first to finish. And when she did, another runner approached her.

A former Marine, he wasn’t used to working with women who could do this kind of job, he told her, but after that run, she was starting to prove she was capable. 

"That was day one,” she said.

Over her 20-year career, Cummings has been a force within a male-dominated field, working to pave the way for herself and be a role model to other women in law enforcement.

And it's against that backdrop at the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department that Cummings at times feels as if all eyes are on her. Earlier this month, she became the first woman appointed as major of the department's criminal investigations division.

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“It's added pressure to a job that's already pressure-filled,” she said. “But I think it also makes you better. It forces you to be better because you're always evaluating what you're doing, how you did something, (asking) is this going to make a good example or not.”

'It's about solving problems'

She didn’t always want to be a cop.

When Cummings, now 46, was in journalism school at IU-Bloomington, she spent a day with a family friend who worked for the FBI. It was then that she began to see the similarities between police work and journalism. 

“We talk to people, we investigate, we find things, we work to help people and make things better,” she said.

She joined the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in 1999, just a few years before it merged with the city police department, with the dream of becoming a homicide detective. Death and homicide investigations represented an intriguing challenge, she said, but she wanted to help families understand their loved one's final moments.

“That was the ultimate, most humbling responsibility that I could think of,” Cummings said.

And she achieved that goal and then some, spending time investigating sex crimes and missing persons cases. But it was a stint in the IMPD public information office that began in 2011 that changed the trajectory of her career.

"That exposed me to a lot of different things, a lot of bigger-picture topics,” she said. “Thinking more about the direction, the theory of policing, the social aspects and social norms and how that impacts what we do in law enforcement and what we do as an agency.” 

After leaving the public information office, she moved quickly — she worked for a time in the special investigations unit, investigating criminal allegations involving IMPD employees. She was a sergeant in East District. 

Sgt. Mechelle Barras, who worked with Cummings in special investigations, said Cummings was a dedicated investigator who can — and will — do anything she sets her mind to.

“She’s a woman who knows what she wants,” Barras said, “and she is determined to prove that she’s capable and worthy of all that she is going to accomplish.”

Then, another step that changed her career: She spearheaded the development of the Mobile Crisis Assistance Team — a combination of emergency medical personnel and police that aimed to divert people experiencing mental health crises from the criminal justice system and saving taxpayer money.  

Paul Babcock, director of the city's Office of Public Health and Safety, said Cummings’ work with the crisis team serves a “critical” role in addressing the community’s needs while furthering criminal justice reform in Indianapolis. 

“From a policymaker's perspective and from the mayor's office perspective, it was Major Cummings who was really instrumental in bringing some of those issues to the forefront and helping us craft policies to try and address it, including working groups with both our mental health professionals at the local and state level,” he said.

Police departments usually follow the community’s lead, Cummings said. When communities were content with jailing those with addiction and mental health struggles, that’s what police did. Now, both the community and law enforcement realize jail is not always the answer.

"That's not the role, the sole role, of a law enforcement agency and a public safety agency,” she said. “It's about public safety, not just arresting. It's about solving problems.”

Under pressure 

Cummings may be the first-ever female major to hold this position, but she’s sure she’s not the first to be qualified. 

“There absolutely have been women come through this area, who have been qualified and who have probably even had the desire to have these positions,” she said. “But for whatever reason, everything didn't come together to make that happen.”  

Women have long been underrepresented among IMPD’s hires. According to the department, only 202 of the IMPD’s roughly 1,600 sworn officers are women.  

When he was appointed to the position in 2017, IMPD Chief Bryan Roach said it was important to ensure his administration and department leadership included diverse voices. 

“If you listen to yourself all the time, or you listen to people that are like you,” he said, “then I think you miss out an opportunity to really understand, maybe, an issue.” 

Recruiting minorities and women is one thing, he said, but retaining them is another. It’s something that will require a culture change within the department, starting at the top. 

“I don't know that, historically, we have done a good job of putting them in the position so that they can succeed,” he said. “And I think that's my responsibility.” 

Similar to Cummings’ experience on her first day at the academy, studies have shown women often feel pressure to prove themselves to their co-workers to gain their respect. They have to put in extra effort. Work harder. Prove their worth.

She's honest with women starting their careers in law enforcement. Some days will be harder than others. But you grow from it.

“I do tell them that the challenges they experience — while at the time that you're experiencing that challenge may not seem like it's something that's going to benefit you — it will benefit you in the future,” she said, "in that you have that experience to rely upon, to find that little extra oomph down inside to take that next step.” 

What’s next? 

In her new role, she supervises more than 300 sworn officers and civilians. She wants to figure out how the work she’s done up to this point can help detectives be more efficient and effective. 

Several days into the job, Cummings still hadn’t unpacked her office. There had been meetings and phone calls and emails to get to.  

Sitting among boxes still full of office supplies and paperwork sat a figurine of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It’s important to have strong female role models, she said. Plus, not many get their own action figures.

It's a small glimpse into her otherwise private — she says "boring" — life. When she does have free time, she's exercising, backpacking, reading or walking her dog, Rosie, a retired racer she adopted six years ago through the Prison Greyhounds program.

In 20 years in public safety, Cummings has done just about everything. She’s patrolled the streets. She’s been the face of the department. She’s spearheaded innovative policing projects. And she’s been promoted twice in the last two years. 

It begs the question: Is the chief’s office in her future? 

It’s a question Cummings is quick to deflect.

“I would hope that everyone who comes on this agency could see himself or herself in the chief's office one day,” she said.

Babcock said Cummings can decide for herself where she wants to land. 

"Major Cummings has to show success and to be a hard worker ... dedicated to the city and dedicated to IMPD," he said. "And I think the sky's the limit for that, either here in Marion County, or, you know, across the country."

As for the current chief?

"I don’t have any doubt,” Roach said. “Hopefully she’ll take this opportunity to look at what are those things that she’s missing. And being around the chief’s office, you start to figure that out a little bit.” 

Call IndyStar reporter Holly Hays at 317-444-6156. Follow her on Twitter: @hollyvhays.