Cordelia Perez

I think there's tenacity in everything that anybody can do in certain fields, and I just hung in there. I always remember what was important. Making a difference for me, because of things I've gone through with my personal life, making a difference for me was very, very important. And that's what I think it's been, is just knowing that I'm helping people. When I got interviewed in 1991, most police departments will ask, why do you want to be a police officer? And most people answer, well, I want to protect, I want to serve, I want to help my community. I answered that in 1991. So if you were to ask me now, guess what? I want to protect, I want to serve, I want to help my community. It's still my answer today.

I think sometimes someone's told me, relax, everything's gonna be okay. It's so simple. Relax. Everything's gonna be okay. And it is. It is, and it was, you know. Also, my husband told me and gave me some really good advice: You'll know when you're ready. You'll know when you're ready, you'll know when it's time, you know, and so no one's gonna be able to tell you.

I think respect first has to come within yourself. You've got to learn to respect yourself, because in this field, it's sometimes hard knocks. Sometimes you're gonna be underestimated. But to keep at it. This is a very - 35 years flew by. When I wrote my retirement letter, I think I wrote there that it has been a terrific rollercoaster ride. There's ups, and there's downs. But the ride is the most enjoyable thing you're ever gonna experience. As a young girl coming into a field, or if I had to talk to myself, my young self, I would have told myself, keep at it. Everything will be good. It's just, if this is what you want, be good at it. That's my professional advice, is just keep at it. A law enforcement career is good. I know sometimes we get that rap out there, but for the most part, people believe in us. And I think that's important to remember. It's a good career. It's been a good career for me.

I think in the beginning, and I think it's gotten better, but I think many times women are underestimated in our field. I think that they confuse physical strength with - there's strength that women have that I think is underestimated. One of the things that I learned in the police academy back in 1991 was something called verbal judo, which is now called de-escalation. It was about how to talk to people. Because through our words and through our actions, we can either escalate or de-escalate a situation. We were never really trained, back then, on how to talk to people, on empathy and compassion and how those things are so important in police work. Because people aren't gonna talk to you if they can't trust you. I think sometimes women, because we use our words - although we never sacrifice safety for rapport - just talking to someone can make a difference. And I think sometimes, as a woman, that is seen as weak. And it's actually a strength. I think women are underestimated. Not as much today as it was 30 years ago, but I still think that we have a lot of growing to do. When we get to a scene, I think sometimes we're perceived as weak, and quite the opposite is true. We're not. We're actually real strong.

My values in work - it's very important that people know they can trust you. When you walk into a room as a law enforcement officer, you kind of know if someone's being genuine or lying to you. Well, the same thing happens when they see you - they know they can trust you, they know if you're being genuine. I think my compassion for people has been - compassion to me is very important. My integrity for the job I do is extremely important. I think those are the things that can define a successful career - integrity, your compassion, your heart at work. Those are things that can make or break a career. And so if you stay genuine to the cause, if you stay true to that, you'll be successful not only in your professional career, but in your personal life. It's okay, sometimes, to stumble and fall. But you dust yourself off, and you get up, and you forge forward. Sometimes there's mistakes made, maybe decisions that maybe you could have done differently, and that's okay. Because as long as you learn from those mistakes, as long as you learn from some decisions you've made and said, well, I could have done this, then guess what? You'll be better.