| Harvey is Kenyon’s first female officer |
By: Kay Fate
|
Posted: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 7:47 pm
|
 Email  Print
|
Shannon Harvey is the newest full-time officer with the Kenyon Police Department. (Kenyon Leader photo)
|
|
A career placement test in high school ranked law enforcement as one of the top six career choices for Shannon Harvey.
So after graduation, she went to Winona State University — for a nursing degree.
Now, five years later, she’s started her career — in law enforcement.
Harvey is the first female officer the city of Kenyon has had, said Police Chief Lee Sjolander.
“As far as I know, she’s it,” he said.
A 2004 graduate of Zumbrota-Mazeppa High School, Harvey received her bachelor’s degree in law enforcement and corrections in December 2008.
So that placement test was accurate, after all?
“That’s the thing,” she said. “I started school to go into nursing, but after about two years, I decided that it wasn’t for me.”
Harvey talked to her roommates, who were law enforcement majors, and decided to make the switch.
“It was a perfect fit,” she said. “Everything clicked right away.”
Including her grades, Harvey admitted.
“I was getting Bs and Cs in nursing classes, but as soon as I switched to law enforcement, I was getting all As and Bs,” she said.
She started her full-time position with the city Friday.
“She comes from Mazeppa,” Sjolander said, “so she’s very familiar with small-town living, but she interned in Rochester, so she’s also versed in large city things. She’s fitting in very well here already.”
Harvey will be job-shadowed while learning about Kenyon.
During skills training, Harvey said, “they warned female officers to be ready” for people to try to intimidate them.
At 5-feet-2 “on a good day,” Harvey said she’ll “let them know I’m an officer, and I’ll do my job, no matter what my gender.”
She’s looking forward to the variety the job will offer, “getting out and getting to know as many people as I can, answering questions. I’m willing to work with people,” she said. “I don’t want to be that pushover officer — but I don’t want to be the one people fear, either.”
Her parents, she said, were a little surprised by her career move.
“My dad was excited, though,” Harvey said. “As soon as he could, he put a gun in our hands, taught us to hunt.
“For my very first job, I wanted to be in the area,” she said. “I wanted to be around my family and friends.”
She looks at Rochester as “the perfect size town and department.”
Wherever his officers end up, Sjolander said, “I want their new bosses to say, ‘those guys in Kenyon really know their stuff.’ I want them to leave here prepared. I thrive on seeing them do well in the future.”
Harvey feels “lucky,” she said, “to get a job after being out of school for just a year; that’s really pretty quick.
“I’m glad I got my foot in the door, and I’ll see where the future takes me.” |
|
|
|
|
|
Member Opinions:
By: BiggerthenSanta on 1/27/10
Welcome aboard!
By: beatleman12345 on 2/1/10
hi and welcome to kenyon
|
|
Top Jobs | Top Homes | Top Cars
| There are no current ads for this category |
| There are no current ads for this category |
| There are no current ads for this category |
|
Digg
Del.icio.us
Facebook
MySpace
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo!
