Middletown Celebrating 2 Historic Female Officers

MIDDLETOWN, CT — The Middletown Police Department this month is celebrating two women who have added a rich history to the force.

Jenny "Marie" Higgins was the first woman was hired by MPD on March 1, 1948. Higgins was initially hired as a clerk and secretary to the police chief, but two years later, she was sworn in as Middletown's first female police officer.

Higgins was promoted to sergeant in 1964 and then to lieutenant in 1973. She worked in the patrol and detective divisions during her career and retired in 1981.

Higgins was a lifelong Middletown resident and died in 2019, just shy of her 102nd birthday, police officials said.

Regina Rush-Kittle was the first African-American female police officer in Middletown when she was hired in 1985. Rush-Kittle left the MPD in 1987 to join the Connecticut State Police, where she rose through the ranks during her 30-year and became a major.

She was the first woman to command a CSP barracks and the first woman to serve as commandant of the CSP Training Academy. Today, she serves as the City of New Haven’s chief administrative officer.

She is also an inductee of the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame.