Back in 1993, you could count the number of female police officers in Binghamton on one hand. Becky Sutliff was one of them.

But from day one, she didn't let her gender stop her from achieving her goals. 23 years later, in 2016, Sutliff became the first female captain in the department's then 149-year history.

"Most people come into this career and want to do well and I started taking promotional exams early on in my career and to make the rank of captain was a very big deal for me," said Becky Sutliff, head of Binghamton Police Internal Affairs Division.

Until then, no woman had ever advanced past the position of patrolman.

When Sutliff was promoted, the Binghamton Police Department had the most female police officers among eight departments in Broome County.

"It was a different environment, and I was very proud to do what I did, and I think it was important back then for more females to come on the job because females add different qualities, different skill sets," said Sutliff.

After just seven years, Sutliff was promoted to sergeant, and for some in the department, it may have taken some getting used to.

"I've got to say, when I first became a sergeant, it was probably difficult for some, because not only was I the first female, I was actually temporarily on the day shift, which is where the more senior, older guys were. Obviously they've never dealt with a female boss," said Sutliff.

While male cops still greatly out number female ones, Sutliff hopes her story will motivate more women to join the force.

"Coming here and seeing that females were treated well, they were treated equally, looking and seeing that females do well on the job and can get promoted on the job I think definitely encourages a lot of over women to come on," said Sutliff.

As of this week, Sutliff was promoted again, and now heads the Internal Affairs Unit.