As Cobb County becomes increasingly more diverse, so too does the agency that protects and serves this community.
The most recent graduation of the county’s police force – the culmination of an arduous 20 week training period – includes two Hispanic women, Nancy Reyes and Mary Fernández, of Mexican and Venezuelan descent, respectively.
“Cobb County is very diverse, and we want our police department to reflect that diversity. We want to make sure that we are connecting with all communities, so having people in our department who speak Spanish and creating trust with the community is very important to us,” explained John Houser, Cobb’s chief of police.
For 30-year-old Reyes, the five months of training were intense, both from a physical standpoint and also from the perspective of learning how to properly use firearms, but she said that the experience was well worth it.
“I chose this path because there’s a large Hispanic community, and I feel that we aren’t sufficiently represented in the police force. I think this helps us a lot,” said Reyes, who works in the Second Precinct.
Jeff Adcock, who up until several weeks ago worked as precinct commander in the Second Precinct but now is in the Third Precinct, explained the importance of having women such as Reyes on the force.
“She is very dedicated, she always has a good attitude at work. The fact that she is a woman and Hispanic is like the icing on the cake, because we need more Hispanic officers and more female police,” said Adcock.
Fernández, 26, said she wants to serve the Latino community and hopes to dispel the negative notion that some Hispanics have regarding the police. At the same time she wants to create a base of trust so that this community can feel comfortable contacting the authorities when they are victims of a crime.
Both women share the same goal of someday becoming federal agents.
In their roles as women and police officers, Reyes and Fernández acknowledge that they face challenges, but they are quick to point out that they are prepared to handle them.
“There are still a lot of people who don’t respect you as a police officer and as a woman. Sometimes they look down on us and say ‘I’m going to walk all over them.’ We have to put our foot down so they see that we are here to enforce the law,” said Reyes.
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