Ramona Washington by no means anticipated to transform a police chief, however now that she’s been named on, she hopes her tale can encourage others like her.
DENTON, Texas — The University of North Texas has a new police chief, and he or she’s the first feminine head of legislation enforcement at school historical past.
“I absolutely never imagined I would be a chief,” Ramona Washington stated on Monday. “I’m very excited to step into this role.”
Washington steps into the function in a time when all eyes are on faculty protection. Only two months in the past, 3 scholars have been killed in a taking pictures at Michigan State University. Less than a 12 months in the past, 19 scholars and a couple of academics have been killed on an fundamental faculty campus in Uvalde.
In a sit-down interview with WFAA, Washington stated she is aware of the protection of 44,000-plus other people now depends upon her efficiency. Already, she informed us, she’s eyeing tactics to support her division’s efforts there.
“One of the things I think is lacking is our incident command,” Washington stated.
While Washington informed WFAA that she believes her officials are well-trained to confront an energetic shooter on campus, she stated she believes they may be able to do a greater activity strategically hanging different officials to deal with such things as visitors or reunification facilities as a disaster unfolds.
“We need to make sure we’re prepared not just for the scene, but also the other parts that go into that,” Washington stated of her hopes to support incident command.
She has different targets, too. According to Washington, handiest 3 p.c of girls officials national serve in govt ranks. And simply 12 p.c of all officials, she stated, are girls. It’s some degree of satisfaction for her, then, that Washington reviews that UNT’s police division is 15 p.c feminine — “and my goal is 30 percent by 2030,” she stated.
Washington turned into a police officer as a tender mother with out a lot cash. She was once additionally the first in her circle of relatives to visit faculty. And, she’ll inform any person who’ll pay attention, she proudly attended the varsity she’ll now sworn to offer protection to and serve.
Now, she stated she hopes her tale conjures up others like her — “women, minorities, mothers, people who are flat out poor,” she stated.
Washington stated she has quite a lot of priorities to take on upon beginning her new function, chief amongst them ensuring her officials are looked after.
“We don’t have very many people signing up to do this job anymore,” she stated. “So, we need to make sure, for the people who do show up and do it, that we’re taking care of them.”
Washington additionally stated she hopes to support her officials’ relationships with the neighborhood on and across the Denton faculty’s campus.
“I would love for more people to have a desire to get to know us and know that we are human,” she stated.
Washington’s first respectable day at the activity as UNT’s police chief will arrive on June 1.
“It’s a huge responsibility,” she stated. “It’s not taken lightly.”
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