The confession of the 'steel rose' who became the female Ward Police Chief

We met Lieutenant Colonel Cao Thi Minh Toan – Chief of Tran Hung Dao Ward Police (Thai Binh) on a day in mid-August when she was busy with work. Known as the “steel rose” in the industry, the female Lieutenant Colonel is the nemesis of criminals in the rice-growing land of Thai Binh.

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Thi Minh Toan is the "3 best" female police officer in Thai Binh (first female investigator, first female deputy ward police chief and first female ward police chief), which makes her even more special in the industry.

“I have proven how passionate I am about my job.”

PV: Why do your teammates and many people call you the "best" female Lieutenant Colonel?

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Thi Minh Toan:My teammates and everyone call me "3 best" because I am the first female investigator of Thai Binh Provincial Police, the first female Deputy Chief of Ward Police in the province and finally the first female Chief of Ward Police in the province.

Regarding the first female investigator, in 1997, I worked at the Investigation Team, Thai Binh Provincial Police. At that time, in that position, the leaders were very apprehensive when women were assigned to a case. Generally, when they saw women working as investigators, at that time, the colleagues were very surprised.

However, the Captain also trusted me and assigned me a few cases to try. It was difficult and thorny, but during my time as an investigator, I came into contact with many subjects with special circumstances, and every time I recall, I have memories and feelings as intact as the first day of contact.

There was a thief who made me remember forever during my time working. That was Nguyen Thi Phu (born 1975, in De Tham, Thai Binh City). Phu stole 7 bicycles from the market. At that time (1997), the value of these bicycles was very high, but the subject refused to confess her actions.

After that, I invited my family over. Phu's father said that we had nothing to eat tonight. Without thinking about it, I sent him 20 thousand. He was touched and thanked me. At this point, Phu collapsed, no longer stubborn, and shared about the incident.

What I am most concerned about now is that Phu said to me: “Who gave you permission to do good things?” What Phu said really tells me that even though Phu stole, their conscience is still there and can still be reformed.

Beautiful female police officer attracts all eyes when participating in voluntary blood donation

More than 1,000 police officers, soldiers, and youth union members participated in donating blood "out of love for their beloved comrades", including many beautiful female soldiers.

The second best is the first female Deputy Chief of Police of the ward in the whole province. That was in 2005, I was Deputy Chief of Police of De Tham ward, 28 years old, not married.

The image that impressed everyone was a female deputy police officer going out into the city’s flower garden to arrest a drug addict. The subject asked “Who are you?”, I said “I am the deputy police officer”.

There are also lives of drug dealers and prostitutes. To fight against it, we have to go into the real world, work at night, I have to have my brothers patrol continuously to ensure security. People at that time were confused, thinking that a female deputy police officer in charge of criminal matters would think that I was a man, not a woman.

As a woman, fighting in the criminal field is very difficult. There are people who cause accidents and run away, I chase after them, the first responsibility is that of a citizen, the second is the flag, the color of the shirt.

Third, the first female ward police chief, who was experienced at the time. However, she did not receive complete trust because she was a woman. She also did mass mobilization work, which made it very difficult to get to the grassroots level. No one trusted her, everyone said, "Let's see how this girl does it."

Lieutenant Colonel Toan is always enthusiastic in every job.

PV: Being a woman and "embracing" the criminal field, then holding the position of Deputy Chief of Ward Police, then Chief of Ward Police, under pressure, having teammates and superiors doubt your ability, how did you convince them?

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Thi Minh Toan:In 2013, when I first went to the ward, the leaders trusted me a lot, and the industry understood. But the grassroots did not trust me, especially the local government.

Actually, the pressure is very big because I am a woman. If I share from a certain perspective, in work there will be times when I cannot be as good as men, this raises the question of how I must prove to my colleagues about my ability.

To prove it, the first thing I do is to be close to my brothers, close to the base, close to the government. I mainly do propaganda and mobilization. As a leader, I have to pay special attention to the lives and feelings of my brothers. My subordinates are young brothers, sometimes they may be sad about love, for example, "close the door" and not share, at that time I have to be the one to skillfully encourage them.

Then, as a wife of a soldier, on holidays and Tet, I always proactively sent messages of encouragement, shared, or created exchanges to listen to the thoughts and wishes, and shared with our rear.

Being close to the people is a prerequisite. The image of a commander directly going to the area to share and grasp the situation with the people will make the people feel secure, thereby contributing significantly to ensuring local security.

For myself, I have made a separate contact book. Contact here is for you to give us your opinions so that we can grasp them and help us improve. From there, there are measures to thoroughly resolve them, at the grassroots level, not to let small conflicts happen. Especially keeping secrets, we have been doing this effectively.

In 2000, when attending the provincial typical commendation ceremony, when people asked why I was so young, I was only a lieutenant at the time, 23 years old. My colleagues wondered why they chose such a young typical person, with no life experience or experience in solving crimes. Many opposing opinions said that such a person should not be commended. But later, I proved to everyone how hard I worked and how passionate I was about my job.

"Sometimes I feel so sad, I just want to cry"

PV: What makes a woman rush into such thorny fields?

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Thi Minh Toan:I can only say that it has seeped into my blood. When I entered the police academy, I chose the investigation major. The image of a real-life soldier has really penetrated my mind. When I went to school, I always thought of choosing the police academy.

I want to use my strength to share with everyone, to spread something to the community. When I chose to be a police officer, my family fully supported me. If I had to choose again, I would still choose it. I truly love it, love the job. Most of my brothers and sisters asked me how I could be so passionate about the job.

PV: Being nicknamed "steel rose", how do you feel?

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Thi Minh Toan:That title was given to me by everyone. I personally feel that I need to strive and learn to live up to the people's trust in the force and in myself.

Talking about her profession, the female Chief of Police of Tran Hung Dao Ward said that only passion for the profession makes her strive and rush into thorny and dangerous areas.

During 10 years of fighting drug cases, dealing with thousands of criminals, then promoted to deputy and then Chief of Ward Police, perhaps witnessing my work and the path I have gone through, my brothers called me that as a form of encouragement.

I have a strong personality, many people jokingly call me "Mr. Toan". When we meet again, we say "Mr. Toan, hello Mr. Toan". Or a superior colleague teases me "next time don't wear a skirt, I'm not used to seeing you in a skirt".

Actually at work, people say I'm more suitable for the male gender, not the female gender anymore.

My brothers teased me and thought it was normal. I even told them that they had to treat me like a man to work, but if they treated me like a woman they wouldn't be able to work, that's not my style.

PV: During your work, from being a female investigator, criminal investigation, to drug investigation, did being a woman create any advantages for you?

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Thi Minh Toan:If women were to go on reconnaissance missions and come into contact with the dark side of society, there would be nothing favorable. The only advantage would be to have the support, assistance, and companionship of their comrades. Of course, women would have the most difficulty. If anything, the gentleness of women sometimes helps in the work.

There were times when I stayed in my room from morning to night, not daring to fan or use mosquito repellent, and had to go on reconnaissance. Then there were cases where a woman had to go in. The only way, when the subject of the transaction was discovered, it was very difficult for me to retreat. Contacting my teammates for support was a bit far away, at that time I felt so sorry for myself, I just wanted to cry.

When I got married and had a small child, there was a time when I came home from a check-up at 1am and cried until I had no more tears. There was a time when I had to leave my child in the house, lock the door and rush to work. There were many times when my child cried and the neighbors kept calling me but I couldn’t get through. Those were the difficulties my family and I had to go through. There were many times when I wanted to transfer to another field, but because I loved my job, I couldn’t quit.

PV: Have you ever felt weak due to work pressure? What is the biggest motivation for you to be able to devote all your efforts to your work and to the people?

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Thi Minh Toan:In my heart, I have never thought that I was discouraged with my job. If I really try and be determined, my colleagues will support each other. We consider each other as family, so the work is always effective.

Although she has experienced many difficulties, hardships, and dangers when facing criminals, when asked, police Lieutenant Colonel Cao Thi Minh Toan affirmed that in her heart she has never once thought of losing her spirit in her profession.

I worked in Ward 5 for 4 consecutive years and was named a Victory Unit and received many certificates of merit. During my leadership, there were initially some people who were very stubborn, but with my sincere sharing, they knew right from wrong and even wrote letters of thanks to me. At that time, I felt very proud because I had contributed my small part to the beautiful image of the people's police officer.

If your son wants to follow and build the image of a police officer like you, what do you think?

The most important thing now is to guide you on how you want to live your life and how you handle it, not necessarily following any pattern. If you really want to follow my path, I fully support you.

PV: Thank you!