It's hats off to law enforcement pioneer

By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS -- A good law enforcement officer is fair, friendly, knowledgeable about the law and a good listener, says Dorothy McLaughlin, a trailblazer among women in Mahoning County law enforcement. She is also a longtime leader in local politics and veterans' affairs.
"You've got to listen to everything. You've got to make sure that you're doing the right thing. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time, but you've got to do it," said McLaughlin, who was among the first female Mahoning County deputies and among the first women assigned to the sheriff's road patrol.
"Have someone repeat what they said or what happened. By the time they repeat it three times, you can find out if it's the same story or not," McLaughlin said.
"Be a friend. Don't be an enemy to anybody when you're out there on the street," advised McLaughlin, whose 10 years of service with the sheriff's department began in 1977 and spanned the administrations of four sheriffs. She also was a volunteer Struthers police reserve officer for 26 years.
Besides her law enforcement hats, McLaughlin, 83, has also literally or figuratively worn many other hats in her activities with the VFW, the Democratic Party and many other organizations. "They just call me the hat lady, or the red, white and blue lady," McLaughlin said.
One of her most notable hats is a Dr. Seuss hat decorated with a patriotic stars and stripes theme, with a stuffed donkey attached to its front, which she wore as a delegate to the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
On display
McLaughlin's law enforcement and political hats, her police patches and badges, her deputy sheriff's uniform and insignia, a presidential campaign button collection and other personal and family memorabilia will be included in an archives library display opening Friday on the second floor of the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, 151 W. Wood St. McLaughlin will be at the exhibit for an opening reception at 4 p.m.
Besides featuring McLaughlin's trailblazing law enforcement career, the exhibit, titled "To Protect and Serve: A Visual Tribute to Mahoning County Law Enforcement," also will include a tribute to the 23 Mahoning County law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty since 1891. The display may be viewed from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays and from noon to 5 p.m. Sundays at least through the end of February.
In a wide-ranging recent interview in her Struthers home, McLaughlin recalled some of the challenges she faced early in her service as a deputy sheriff.
One of those challenges was the flagrant sexual harassment inflicted on her by some male deputies. After her complaints to supervisors failed to stop the abuse, she fought back against a male deputy who groped her. "That stopped the crap," she recalled. "I was OK then after that. Those guys wouldn't touch me," she added.
As a deputy, she organized the Women's Anti-Assault Program, a self-protection seminar for women.
At first, she was paid 50 to 75 a week less than her male colleagues, but the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 141, of which she was a trustee, later ended that inequity.
Over the years, McLaughlin earned the admiration of her peers.
Work and learn
"It was my pleasure as a young officer to work with her and learn from her," said Alki Santamas, who worked with McLaughlin in the former county jail on Boardman Street and in transporting inmates to Columbus-area prisons. "She was hardworking and energetic. Whatever the task was in front of her, she accomplished it," said Santamas, who is now Mahoning County jail warden.
"She taught me everything I knew in Struthers," said sheriff's department Sgt. Aurea Montero, who worked with McLaughlin both in the Struthers Police reserves and in the sheriff's department. "She knew how to work with people and had the best disposition there could be," Montero added.
"She pioneered the advancement of females in the police service here," said Sheriff Randall Wellington. "She's a very loyal person -- very patriotic," Wellington observed, recalling her participation in his first civilian police academy during the post-Sept. 11, 2001, homeland security effort.
Veterans' affairs
McLaughlin's patriotism expanded into veterans' affairs after her first husband, William Kelly, was killed in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.
"I just had to jump in and take his place and do whatever I could for the veterans," she explained. McLaughlin's dedication to veterans' causes is reflected in her having been a member for more than 50 years of the VFW Post 7538 ladies' auxiliary, of which she has been president for 20 years.
Military service has been a tradition in the McLaughlin family. Her father was a World War I veteran, and three of her four sons are Vietnam War-era veterans.
Her second husband, Robert McLaughlin, a World War II veteran who was severely disabled by a back injury linked to his military service, died seven years ago.
Political activism is another of the hallmarks of McLaughlin's busy life.
One of her earliest exposures to politics was as a young tap dancer at a Franklin Delano Roosevelt whistle stop rally at downtown Youngstown's Erie Terminal Building during his successful 1932 presidential election campaign.
Her work today
Today, she is a Democratic State Central Committeewoman. She has been a Democratic precinct committeewoman for 55 years and works part time at the Mahoning County Board of Elections.
Among her memorable experiences are attending Jimmy Carter's inaugural ball in 1977, being a bodyguard for Rose Kennedy when she visited Warren during the 1970s, and receiving a telephone call from President-elect Carter congratulating her for a ceramic coffee mug she had made bearing his likeness.
milliken@vindy.com