In defence of fast-tracked senior female officers
It's not the route that I chose but I would not be a fast-tracked black or a female officer if you paid me twice my salary.
Unlike their colleagues in the system, they are not allowed to be mediocre or to make mistakes. They are judged harshly against ridiculous benchmarks like how many arrests that they have made, or how many times they've had to fight for their lives in an altercation.
Along their route to the top, they are plunged into jobs that most of us would think twice about, for the sake of our mental health and the pressure. They do this even though they arrive at a new job under suspicion, where any mistake is likely to be magnified - espcially if you are a woman. As relative outsiders, they don't buy into the culture.
I've worked with a lot of them as they rose from sergeant to Chief Constable. A significant number struggled in the lower ranks only to flourish when they reached Chief Superindent and above. It was only at a higher rank that we could witness their skills as managers, leaders and problem-solvers.
They are not representative of the women officers in forces, most of whom work in the 24/7 sharp end of uniform policing. But among them are some cracking role models. They've shown that you can't judge an Assistant Chief Constable by the number of arrests she made at the start of her career.