Think back to your childhood — what did you want to be when you grew up? Six-year-old Adele Straw has her eye on a shiny police badge — and a bomb dog. The Mount Vernon, Indiana, resident and YMCA of Southwestern Indiana homeschool co-op student learned about law enforcement uniforms, community outreach, and job specialties while attending a Sept. 10 National Police Woman Day panel featuring seven graduates of the University of Southern Indiana’s Criminal Justice Department. Did the panel reinforce Adele’s thoughts on her dream job? You bet; she shares her takeaways with Evansville Business.
I’ve wanted to be a police officer ever since I watched the film “Zootopia” because the police officer rabbit likes her job. Police officers like to work with people. The panelists talked about saving people, meeting people when they drive their cars, and hanging out with other officers when they aren’t working. They all are helping people. Some officers help kids. They teach kids how to be officers one day through the Law Enforcement Explorers program. They get to go to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for a contest — the kids get to pretend to be police officers and find out who among them performs the best. When I get old enough, I want to go to Gatlinburg, too.
I really liked hearing about the state police. They have bomb dogs, SCUBA divers, and helicopters. I didn’t know there were jobs like that. I want to work with a bomb dog and fly a helicopter. I mostly want to know more about police dogs — I want to know how they smell a bomb. I also found out that police dogs come from other countries.
We learned about officers’ uniforms. At the panel, they were blue or brown. Some officers get to wear a hat. The first thing I noticed on their uniforms was stripes in different colors, like a rainbow. They are ribbon prizes [commendation bars] for doing a good job. Officers have shiny badges — some look like stars, some look like an eagle. They also wear big belts so they can carry things on them. I want a blue uniform and an eagle badge.
I asked the officers if it’s hard to catch a bad guy. They said, “Sometimes, it’s hard. Sometimes, it’s not.” It’s easier to catch a bad guy if you speak to them kindly. Some people might be scared of a man cop because they are big. I think girls will want to be police officers if they meet officers that are girls, too.
Cpl. Sarah Carter from the Newton, Illinois, Police Department knew she wanted to be a cop when she was little, just like me. She watched shows about being a cop, too. She liked to dress up like a police officer for Halloween. I’m going to be a police officer for Halloween, too! I feel like I found my twin, but she is a grown up.
