(KIWA Staff Photo)Sioux City, Iowa (RI) — The funeral for Janell Armstrong, the first woman to serve as a Sioux City police officer, is being held Monday.
Armstrong died last Sunday at age 84. She grew up as Janell Daws on a farm in Willis, Nebraska, graduated from Sioux City Heelan High School in 1960, and joined the Sioux City Police Department in 1972 after completing the police academy. Her good friend Janet Comeau says entering an all-male department was a daily challenge.
Comeau recalled one incident in which Armstrong arrested a large man who claimed he was injured. She took him to the hospital, where he struck her — but she continued her work.
Comeau says Armstrong’s presence also made a difference for women reporting domestic abuse and assault.
Armstrong published her autobiography, “Patrolling the Darkness,” in 2015, describing how her faith guided her through her career. Comeau says Armstrong also started the first Bible study within the police and sheriff’s departments, and that many officers’ lives were changed through her courage to share the gospel.
