People often ask me questions about being a cop, especially being a female & minority cop in a male dominated career. So this week I’m going to answer some of those questions.
Be sure to tune into my Day in the Life video as well!
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the toughest part about your job? Honestly, there are a lot of tough things about the job. And it is not always the same thing. I often deal with difficult people, some days I deal with people who I want to help but won’t accept my help.
Most days I enjoy my job and I enjoy going to work. But like anything else there are definitely rough days.
What made you become an officer? I became a police officer because I wanted to help people, and that’s probably what most officers will tell you. It was important to me me to bring some diversity to the department and I decided becoming an officer would help bring diversity. I also always had the desire to become a detective, and becoming an officer is the only way I could achieve that goal.
Have you had to pull your gun out on a suspect? Yes, but probably not as often as you think. Our calls for service range from noise complaints to assault with a deadly weapon and anything in between. Sometimes I have an idea before I get there that will have to draw my firearm, and sometimes situations go left and I have to make a decision to pull my firearm while on scene.
Speaking honestly, there have been more times that I should have reacted differently and pulled my firearm on someone and haven’t. Whether a firearm is involved or not we always try to deescalate the situation first. The goal is to protect everyone, myself and others officers, the victim and the suspect.
When did you decide you wanted to be an officer? Becoming an officer was never a dream of mine, in fact I’ve always said I didn’t/couldn’t be a cop. It wasn’t until about 6 months before I applied that decided it wanted to be an officer.
What do you recommend for women to want to be officers? My best advice is just do it! First get into shape if you aren’t already and apply. I think departments make an attempt at trying to hire diverse individuals but honestly they don’t get a lot of diverse candidates. You don’t have to have any law enforcement/military or criminal justice background to become an officer.
Men may be physically stronger than women, but half of the time the calls we deal with aren’t even about strength. It is about how to deal with and talk to people and I think women are generally just better at that. The academy was hard for me, and they do test you and try to weed out the weak but stay strong and keep pushing. Feel free to reach out on Instagram or email me if you have any questions I’d be happy to help!
How long have you been an officer? I graduated the academy in August 2018.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen? Um.. like crazy sad, crazy dangerous or just crazy crazy? This will be easier to explain in my video. I’ll update when I have it posted.
Did you go to the academy? What was it like? Yes, every officer has to complete BLET (basic law enforcement training) although it can vary per state. I wrote an entire post on my experience in the academy, you can check it out here https://wifeychat.wordpress.com/2020/06/26/the-academy/
How does your family feel about you being a cop? I guess it depends which family member you ask. They are very supportive even though some of them would rather me choose any other career.
What is maternity leave like? Because of the nature of my job you can be placed on light duty early during pregnancy. I found out I was pregnant really early around 3/4 weeks and went on light duty super early at 8 weeks. In those 4 weeks I was working I felt very scared to perform my duties (k9 tracks, jumping fences & apprehending suspects for example) and knew it was best to let my Sgt and HR know. I can only speak for my department but I was given a temporary assignment during pregnancy. I’ll take 10 of my 12 weeks when baby P arrives and then I’ll have to make sure all my training is up to date (firearm qualification) and return back to patrol.
What vegan snacks do you eat at work? I worked third shift while I was on patrol so I brought my food and snacks majority of the time. There are a few gas station snacks that are vegan, and I did eat chipotle if I could get there before 10 and Taco Bell some nights because they closed at 2am.
How do you feel about defunding the police? I think most people don’t understand what it means. And I think people who think there shouldn’t be a police department are silly. I think the people can “police the police.” Stop calling for silly things. For example, your kid won’t wash the dishes (yes, this was a real call), loud music (before you even ask them to turn it down), suspicious people (who aren’t doing anything suspicious, you’re just nosey) or car “breakins” where you left your door unlocked and nothing was stolen or damaged. If people call 911 we have to come. So utilize 911 for emergencies like it’s intended.
There should be a larger budget for community improvement, and my department has a lot of community programs in place. For example, we have community officers who’s sole job is to attend community meetings, host meetings and deal with community issues such as noise complaints and other neighborhood issues. We also have officers who work with clinicians and respond to calls where there are people in crisis, maybe suicidal or other mental issue.
Educate yourself and don’t just repost what you see on Instagram. Social media can be so helpful, but can be so damaging with false information as well.
If you’re interested in how your local department operates contact them to do a ride along, I really encourage this. You can see what kind of calls they get, and how they handle them. You also have the opportunity to ask questions.
I know don’t talk often about my career often, but I do think it’s important to be transparent. I won’t argue or defend my career choice but If you have any questions please reach out to me.
xo
