NATCHEZ, Miss. (WJTV) – The City of Natchez begins Women’s History Month by making history of its own by naming the city’s first female police chief.

Cal Green is now the city’s top cop, who has a clear direction she wants to take her department in. She’s worked her way up the ranks. First, she was at the Natchez Police Department, then the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and now she’s breaking barriers as the first woman to lead the Natchez Police Department.

“Women have always had to work twice as hard. You’ve got to know ten times as much. I think I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve had some really good supervisors who never let me give up. They gave me the training that I needed to reach the next level. They’ve been very supportive of me the whole way,” said Green.

She served as interim chief before getting the job permanently. The new chief said she’s ready to lead.

“I am a solution finder. I’m not one to sit there and beat somebody over the head with the problem. What is the solution? If I can’t bring a solution to the table, I would really rather not bring you the problem. That’s something that I’m trying to get my younger officers who are very young, by the way, to start maybe thinking about the solution to a problem.”

She said it’s significant that she was sworn in on the last day of Black History Month and officially started her first full day as chief on the first day of Women’s History Month.

Mayor Dan Gibson said it’s time.

“It’s exciting that we have appointed our first female chief. We weren’t just going for a female. We were going for the best qualified candidate. It just so happens it was a female, Cal Green, with 26 years of experience, serving both the police and the sheriff. We just thought this is the right fit,” said Gibson.

The right fit and the right time for a city that’s undergoing changes and looking forward to the future with a chief who plans to bring a different style of leadership to the police department while focusing on community policing.

“I am a big proponent of community-oriented policing. My guys are getting out there in the community. They’re more than just walking or riding around looking at the people. They actually get out, play basketball with the kids. One of our officers went and picked up snacks and just handed them out to the kids that were playing in the neighborhood.”

The chief said one of her biggest problems is dealing with an officer shortage just like a lot of departments. She’s currently working on ways to get those numbers up.