Growing up in rural Western North Carolina is not what most people think of as a brilliant opportunity. I guess that is why I have always felt that my opportunity was special. Being the first member of my large family to get a college education was just one of my many blessings. My family’s roots were in farming, and that was where my values were grown. My family truly believed that a good life started with being a good person. We valued honesty, loyalty, and most of all humanity. These principles shaped my desire to become a police officer. I also found confidence in my dad’s insistence that I could do anything I set my mind to.
College degree in hand, I started my journey with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office as a detention officer while I attended Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) at night. I then became one of two sworn female officers with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department at that time. I used this experience to springboard into a job at one of the most well-respected police departments in the area, the Gaston County Police Department. They had many female officers, but they were not just patrol officers, they were detectives, vice agents, sergeants, and captains. I was so proud to work for an agency that believes in what you have in your head, your heart, and your soul. I was given an opportunity to apply those principles and values that were instilled in my youth. Over the past 17 years I have had the opportunity to be one of the youngest detectives in the department, the only sniper in the history of the department’s tactical team, and receive a variety of specialty training. I truly believe hard work will bring you anything.
Learn more about Gaston County Police Department at: http://www.gastongov.com/departments/police