getting to know...
getting to know her
DEVON MORGAN/PHOTOSYNTHESIS ATLANTA
Officer Erin Johnson, 31, of the Roswell Police Department, grew up in metro Atlanta and is passionate about helping people in her local community, especially children, feel safe and protected.
Erin Johnson,
By KATIE VANBRACKLE
katie@northsidewoman.com When did you decide to pursue law enforcement as a career? My initial plan was to obtain a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, then attend law school to practice criminal law. As part of my degree requirements, I chose to intern with a local police department, thinking it would be more entertaining than a law firm. It was definitely entertaining, and it made me realize that I would rather be out in the community as a police officer than in an office as an attorney. How long have you been with the Roswell Police Department? For almost seven years now. I started my career on patrol, assigned to morning watch from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., and I loved it! I have been in the Community Relations Unit for the past several years, and I love that, too. What I do now is extremely different from patrolling, but it is rewarding in a different way. What are your primary duties? I go to schools, businesses, neighborhood and community meetings to explain how the police department works and how we can work together to prevent or solve crimes. I also teach S.A.F.E. women’s self-defense classes and am a certified radKIDS instructor, which teaches kids how to be safe in a variety of situations – everything from bullying to safety around water. It’s a 10-hour, all-encompassing program with hands-on practice drills. It’s fantastic and we’ve had great feedback from the community on it. What do you enjoy the most? Working with kids is my favorite part of my position. They are so brutally honest and innocent, and I think we can make the biggest difference with them. It breaks my heart to see children who are afraid of police officers because I want them to understand that we are their
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the bulletproof vest I wear under my shirt to help keep me safe. Without missing a beat, a little girl raised her hand and asked what I wore under my pants. I busted out laughing – just when you think you’ve heard it all!
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friends and here to help them if they need it. I recently went to an elementary school and met a little girl who was terrified to speak with me because police officers had been to her house in the past and it had frightened her. She eventually warmed up to me and by the end of my visit, she was sitting in the backseat of my patrol car, talking on the PA system with a big smile on her face.
What is your favorite thing about being a police officer? Knowing that I have made a difference in people’s lives. Police officers see people at their lowest lows sometimes, so it can easily make you jaded if you don’t keep some perspective. Every once in a while, I will run into someone I really helped, often I didn’t even know I really helped them at the time, and it makes all the hard work worth it. ■
Are the kids surprised to see a female officer? Yes, almost always! They say, “Hey, you’re a lady policeman!” I also get a lot of moms and grandmas who tell me how happy they are to see a woman in a traditionally male position. At an event a few weeks ago at Home Depot, two little girls came running up to meet me, asking a million questions. Their grandma said they saw me across the parking lot and were so excited to see a lady police officer. They gave me big hugs and we took a picture together after they crawled through the back of my police car to see what it was all about. I try to be a positive role model for all kids, but I think I make the biggest impression on some of the little girls. What do the kids want to know about your job? I get a lot of traditional questions about guns and bad guys, but sometimes they can be pretty funny. I remember speaking to an elementary class about my equipment and everything I have on my duty belt, and I showed them
Erin Johnson tea ches radKIDS stu dents how to de themselves. fend
november2014 | northsidewoman.com | 9