I
’ve always wanted to help peo-
ple, but my dream as a child
wasn’t to become a police offi-
cer, it’s something that ‘happened’.
When I left the US Army, I had a
husband and child, and we were
living at my parent’s house.
I NEEDED a job.
I happened to open my brother’s
mail. It was an application to take
the Civil Service Exam. I wanted
to provide for my family and was
feeling desperate, so, I decided
to take the examination… and did
well.
I went through the academy and
hiring process… suddenly I was a
police officer! That was 22 years
ago.
One day, I was in a class at the po-
lice academy and was approached
with an idea: to create a course of
basic Spanish for law enforcement
officers. For me, this was an amaz-
ing idea; but years later people had
either moved on or just lost inter-
est in all of it… I didn’t: I kept it in
my heart as I could see that this
was something BIGGER! my own virtual academy, but for
more than just Spanish.
As a Hispanic police officer, I knew
the struggle of fellow Hispanics
being able to communicate when
they needed help. I researched the
Hispanic population and discov-
ered that around 54 million His-
panics live in the United States,
equating to around 17% of the total
population. As a police officer, I know just how
important it is that our first re-
sponders are able to obtain all of
the information they need quickly.
I also know that there are officers
who are looking for tips on med-
itation, fitness, nutrition and more.
Dealing with communities where
there is a large population of Span-
ish speaker is not easy, as it can be
really difficult to find an officer that
is able to communicate with them
in Spanish. For me, it’s so import-
ant to know why the initial call was
made.
A lot of people say, “why do you
need to teach Spanish to officers?
They should speak English”; but,
for me it’s more important for all
first responders to be able to stay
SAFE!
Where am I going with this? My
idea of only doing this one thing,
has made me realize that my pas-
sion is more than just that. My
GOAL is to own my own virtual
academy, a place where services
are offered to first responders,
and they have the option to learn