María Fernanda Tamayo Rivera is an Ecuadorian law enforcement official, the first woman to become the country's inspector general of police.

Early years

María Fernanda Tamayo was born in Shell Mera, Pastaza Province, Ecuador. She has three brothers and two sisters. Since she was 8 years old, she showed signs of her vocation to join the police force. She was inspired by watching the American TV series ''

Police Woman The integration of women into law enforcement positions can be considered a large social change. A century ago, there were few jobs open to women in law enforcement. A small number of women worked as correctional officers, and their assignment ...

'', starring

Angie Dickinson Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...

. Her mother always supported her in her aspirations. However, after finishing her secondary education, Tamayo could not attend the Superior Police School since women were not yet admitted to the institution, so she opted for her second passion, technology, and entered the

National Polytechnic School The National Polytechnic School (Spanish: ''Escuela Politécnica Nacional''), also known as EPN, is a public university in Quito, Ecuador. The campus, called "José Rubén Orellana", is located at the sector center-oriental of Quito. It occupi ...

as a

systems engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering util ...

major.

Police career

Two years later, Tamayo left the program after the National Police began to admit women, receiving 700 applicants, of which 32 were selected. She was part of the first women's class in 1983. After graduating, she and her companions were assigned to research units with more administrative positions, in areas such as migration, where she spent four years. After this she moved to Urban Service in the Immediate Assistance Posts (PAI). Tamayo has held positions in the National Traffic Directorate, National Education Directorate, and General Personnel Directorate, among others. She aspired to be part of the Intelligence and Rescue Group (GIR), but was unable to as it did not admit women. Throughout her police career she has received 20 decorations for effective work. In 2014, she became the first officer to lead the Alberto Enríquez Gallo Higher Police School, where she was responsible for inclusion and gender equality in the training of officers. In 2016 she was promoted from colonel to the rank of general and designated director of planning of the National Police. On November 30, 2018, Tamayo became the first woman to be promoted to inspector general of the public force, in a ceremony where President Lenín Moreno and Interior Minister

María Paula Romo María Paula Romo (born 4 June 1979) is an Ecuadorian politician that served as Minister of Government under President Lenin Moreno. She was a member of the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly, Constituent Assembly that crafted Ecuador's current C ...

recognized Tamayo's career and efforts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamayo, Maria Fernanda Ecuadorian police officers Living people People from Pastaza Province Women police officers Year of birth missing (living people)