If you're wanting to be polite, you can call it perseverance, or you can simply call it stubbornness.
Johanna Audet figures it's stubbornness ... a trait she called upon to get her through a rigorous testing regime that ultimately led to her joining the Estevan Police Service (EPS) as their first full-fledged female police constable 25 years ago.
She's now on a retirement schedule, probably not for long because she's still much too young to be thinking about trips south, rocking chairs or CPP cheques.
Being an Estevan born and raised girl worked as both an advantage and disadvantage throughout her policing career, she said.
It helped because she often knew the people she would be trying to help, but that is a double edged sword in that profession.
"It was most difficult having to deal with tragic situations. Quite often I would know these people and they'd be dealing with tragedy or death or some other difficult situation, and there I'd be, wondering how I could help."
The best part of being a member of EPS had to be the people she got to work with over the years.
"The people I worked with are fantastic because we all know we can't go home and vent issues even with spouses, but we could with one another. We know we have each other's interests at heart. We may not be close friends or anything like that, but at work we know they are there for us whatever the situation," Audet said.
Growing up in Estevan meant attending Pleasantdale School, then Estevan Junior High School and ECS. There were brief forays into retail sales with jobs at Woolworths and then Reitmans, but Audet soon found her way to the Estevan Police Service in the spring of 1988 when she applied for a night shift dispatcher position, sharing duties with another girl for about a year and a half.
"Then one day, out of the blue, Sergeant (Brian) Renwick approached me to see if would be interested in becoming a police officer," she said.
"At that time, the way the dispatch desk was set up, I got to see all the comings and goings. I saw all the activity and thought, you know, this could be interesting."
She accepted the challenge and applied for training at the Saskatchewan Police College in January of 1990 and received just two weeks notice.
"Chief Ray Worsnop wanted to make sure I was going to be ready, so he made me go through what is called the Coopers Test, which measures your physical strength, agility, endurance and so on. He made sure I could pass the men's standards so I could be prepared for anything they'd throw at me at the college," she said.
How did she do?
"I think my lung is still out there on the track at ECS," she said with a laugh.
That's where the stubbornness checked in.
"No doubt about it. That's what got me through it," she said, referring to the gruelling four-months at the college. It was there she learned about provincial regulations and statutes, the Criminal Code and lifestyle lessons that she would have to carry with her throughout her career as well as the tough physical training and testing including defence and suspect control techniques.
After graduating from the college at the age of 20, Audet became Estevan's first female cop and Sergeant Gary Eagles was her full-time training officer.
On retirement, Audet was no longer a policewoman in uniform, but rather a member of the serious crimes investigation unit.
There was a period a number of years ago when she seriously considered a move toward gaining sergeant status.
"I applied and wrote the exams and was told I had failed, but later found out, I had actually passed when Del Block, now chief, then staff sergeant, was instructed to form up a new test. I approached then chief "Bing" Forbes about the situation and his response was that he didn't see it that way. I could have pursued the matter, but then I started to think that I could either be right, or be happy and I chose happy. I know I passed, and I'm OK with saying that. I didn't create the situation and I was willing to leave it there."
Moving into serious crimes investigations put Audet under the mentorship of Block, Estevan's current chief of police. She's worked with several chiefs, including Worsnop, Ray Delorme, Peter McKinnon, Forbes and now Block.
After Block assumed the chief's position, Audet worked alone in the serious crimes investigation unit for awhile before being teamed with Const. Tyler McMillen. The hours can be erratic, but not as demanding as the regular platoon schedules, she said.
A sergeant's position arose just recently, but Audet said she didn't consider the opportunity seriously. It was the stubbornness thing again.
"I promised myself when I started that I'd be a cop for 25 years and then go into something else, so that's what I'm doing. I still love the job but I've been out of uniform for four years, rarely have to work nights or weekends. Some of those big drug bust projects would take us into some early morning hours and it took me awhile to bounce back," she said with a laugh.
"I enjoyed the drug investigation work, gathering information, working with other agencies. There is more emphasis on police sharing information among themselves now. The records management system is run by the RCMP Canada-wide but we could access it for specific purposes for information or education," she said.
Asked about the best part of policing, Audet just shrugged and smiled.
"Our sense of fun can be quite different. Not too long ago south of the city we did an arrest of a dealer. We seized his phone and it was just ringing steadily. So we started responding to the text messages much to the chagrin of those who were texting, who were greeted by police officers and not their friendly neighbourhood drug dealer that day. That was fun!"
Audet and her mate Dan Chesney are devoting a lot of time now to landscaping and renovating her mother's home that she purchased following her passing. It's the home she grew up in since 1967.
"I have a part-time job waiting for me and it doesn't have anything to do with law enforcement," she added with a grin.
Audet said she was proud of her record and the fact she was Estevan's lone policewoman for about 18 years. Const. Lana Gropp became the second and now there are others filling the ranks.
She shakes her head firmly when asked whether or not she encountered gender discrimination, harassment or even apprehension from the male police officers and constables.
"None at all, never. When I first started, they all knew me as the dispatcher and felt I could do it. Nothing stands out to me as being a gender issue. There could have been some physical limitations at times, but nothing really. I do recall one time making an arrest of an impaired guy who then lit a cigarette while he was parked in the back seat of our cruiser. I asked him to throw it out and his response was 'make me' so I kind of went into a scolding mode and asked him if he'd really want to go back to his friends and have to tell them he had his butt kicked by a woman! He threw it out," she said with a laugh. "I know it wasn't entirely correct, and what the heck, I might have ended up with a black eye too, but that's the only situation I can recall right now," she added.
Role models for her were officers like Block and Eagles as well as many others ... people ... cops she has met and worked with along the way.
"I learned early on that there is one career-ending thing in this business. If you ever hear a cop say 'this is not in my job description' you know they're on their way out because we don't have job descriptions. You're never too good to do what all the rest of them have done. We are police ... and the duties are obvious to us. Sometimes we have to be guidance counsellors, sometimes babysitters, sometimes dog catchers and sometimes just coffee makers but the thing is, we all do all of that."
There were a few tears upon her unofficial departure from active duty on March 14, concluding with a gathering of friends and well wishers at the Tap House that evening, a regular stop for some after work.
The official retirement date though, is May 1.
"It's been challenging but rewarding. I couldn't think of anything else I would rather have done. I took some pride in being able to do what I did. I thank those who worked with me, I thank Ray Worsnop for providing me with that original opportunity."
Right now there is no heavy reflection, just an opportunity to enjoy some free time before there will be a transition to a new role in the hometown she loves and has helped protect for 25 rewarding years.
