I had an uncle who was a correction officer and he would tell us these amazing stories about his work. In my junior year I decided to take a class in law enforcement. I wasn't interested in anything else, just law enforcement and maybe forensic work. But to get expertise in forensic work you have to study for at least six years. I did not have money for college, so I went into law enforcement.
I did go to the Community College of Rhode Island for two years to get an Associate Degree and after graduation I applied for a job in police work.
I am a single mother. I have two children, one is 16 years old and my younger one is only 6. I spend almost all of my free time with my kids. Once in a while I go out with a group of girlfriends for some "girl talk," but mostly I want to be with my children. Family is very important to me.
In law enforcement you can encounter some tough situations but I never felt that I made the wrong decision. My younger daughter thinks that police work is pretty cool and she likes the fact that her mom is a cop. My ex-husband, her father, is also a police officer so she has always known a lot about our work. But my older daughter is not as enthusiastic about my profession. She just doesn't say much about it.
I think police presence—my presence—at Central has been very positive. I am considered the school's Resource Officer and get to know the kids and have relationships with them. Kids get to know me and get to think differently about police in general.
How does one become a police officer? Well, I went to a community college for two years and applied for a position with Providence Police Department. It's the city that then invites you to a training academy. After I completed the police academy training, I worked on patrol for about three years and after that you can bid into other positions like schoolwork or undercover work.
So I bid into schoolwork because I like to be with young people. I wanted to work days to be on the same schedule as my kids. I became a mother when I was very young; I had a child with my high school sweetheart and several years later, I married a policeman. Police work is very stressful and can be hard on a family, especially with both parents working in law enforcement. So we got divorced but we are good friends and we support our children.
I really live for my children. For fourteen years in addition to police work, I was in the military reserves but it took too much time away from my family so I gave it up. So now in addition to schoolwork and family, I am working on a BA Degree at Roger Williams University and the police department pays my tuition. This is really great; I get to do what I care about, and finish my schoolwork as well.
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