Sonia Thomas: Of service over self

IT’S a job that can shave years off your life, rob you of precious family time, and even your sanity, but after 29 years in the Canadian police service, Sonia Thomas still somehow looks many years younger than her age, and skilfully balances family life, all the while being second in charge of the Toronto Police Service.

Her smile is easy, her manner assertive but welcoming as she sits down with All Woman to permit a little peek into her life, and how she moved up the ranks over the years.

Thomas, who is Canadian with Jamaican parents, says after finishing university, where she had studied psychology and sociology, she thought she was destined to become a teacher.

“That’s what I wanted to do… (then) I came home from university one summer and I saw an ad in our Toronto transit train — it said join the Toronto Police Force. I thought to myself, that sounds really interesting, maybe I will try that for a couple years and see how that goes”.

She was hired.

“I was the second female black officer in the service at the time. I grew up in a neighbourhood where I didn’t see any female black officers. I also didn’t necessarily like the way the officers policed in my community at that particular time,” Thomas says.

“I didn’t necessarily think I was going to make a difference, but I knew that I could police differently, and I could serve the community differently from what I saw.”

Thomas remembers training being a breeze, but it was the mental challenges that were tougher to master.

“I didn’t have any problems with the training at all, I was 22 years old, I was in great shape (but) I was so shy. It was very difficult to get past that shyness. I was going into homes, I had to direct people what to do, I had to counsel people in domestic situations — so getting past that challenge was difficult. With time and experience I was able to navigate through that. Having been brought up by a strong Jamaican mother, it helped me to get through those years.”

As a constable, Thomas enjoyed her front-line duties, but it wasn’t long before she had that familiar itch of wanting to do, and give more to the community.

A sparkle in her eyes, she says: “I knew that I could impact the service if I started to move up the ranks, and I wanted to put myself in a position where I could be at some of those tables where decisions were made which impacted the way in which we serve our people”.

Her first promotion was to the rank of sergeant.

“I wanted to be a staff sergeant – I didn’t necessarily want to be an inspector. I was very happy. I had a platoon of officers that I supervised; I felt I had a great impact. But at some point I realised that it wasn’t necessarily about me, but about all the other female black officers that had come in, and if they couldn’t see anybody in the senior officer ranks, they wouldn’t be able to see themselves in that way. So that encouraged me to get to the rank of inspector,” she explains.

Thomas is quick to note that throughout her steady climb up the ladder, she has always been anchored by men and women in the service, who not only cheered her on, but also provided invaluable mentorship.

The inspector says she has always felt she has to work twice as hard as everyone else in order to achieve.

“When you’re part of an organisation where there weren’t ever any female black senior officers, in my mind it was going to be a huge challenge to get to that point.”

She has therefore over the years imposed a strict work ethic on herself, while ensuring that she did not, in the flurry of saving, service and protecting, lose sight of the importance of managing her own family, which includes three children.

“It was difficult. I was married and I had a very supportive husband at the time, but it was a lot of juggling. But you have to try and maintain a good balance between work and family life. Sometimes we push ourselves a little bit too much,” Thomas says.

Thomas says she would advise any young woman who is thinking about entering law enforcement to find a mentor in the service.

“Find somebody that you can talk to and get a very good understanding of what the job entails, whether it be military or police, because you may not know what you’re getting involved in. I say go for it.”

The 50-year-old makes no bones about the tough side of the job, pointing out that, “This job can eat you up. Shift work takes years off your life…you’re going to court on your days off, sometimes we are required to work overtime, sometimes you can’t go to family functions (and) we work holidays.”

But at the same time, she describes her career as amazing.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’ve loved every single day of it. I’m now in a position where I can sit at the tables where decisions are being made and I can give input, which is what I wanted to do. I’m extremely happy,” shares Thomas.