CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Lieutenant Emily Perez and Senior Officer Imelda Benavidez Rjasko both hold important positions within the Corpus Christi Police Department working hard to protect our community and paving the way for young Latinas.
“They always look at my stature and what I’m about and people say well you don’t look like an officer and I’m like well what do officers look like,” said Senior Officer Imelda Benavidez Rjasko
Rjasko is a recruiter for CCPD and is working on diversifying the department.
“We are one of the departments here with a very high percentage of bringing diversity to our department for women,” said Rjasko.
Rjasko is just one of the many that has helped changed the narrative of women in police.
“They think of this big burly male and that’s not what we’re about, we bring diversity to our department, we’re all different sizes it’s not about being this dominant male figure what everyone thinks today,” said Rjasko.
She does all this while representing the Latinx community.
“You carry this mental state of hey you got responsibility not just for yourself, but for all you know who you’re here for,” said Rjasko.
And in the same building, there’s Lieutenant Emily Perez.
“I’m the lieutenant over special investigations which is in our CID Criminal Investigation Division,” said Perez.
“I also am the supervisor of the U.S. Marshals task force. I oversee them however they do work out of the federal building with the U.S. Marshals.”
Perez is another Latina paving the way in law enforcement.
“When I came on 15 years ago you didn’t have six female officers on one shift you had maybe one,” said Perez.
Both women overcame obstacles.
“There were two of us in our police academy, so it was just trying to beat those obstacles that were put in front of us,” said Perez.
“The probability of making it were slim and out of my area and so many other friends I grew up with are professionals and have made a difference,” said Rjasko.
Both inspired by their families and culture.
“My grandfather was a police officer and so I think seeing him and watching him and just the way our family was raised I was always taught to be respectful and loyal and hard working,” said Perez.
“From coming from a deep-rooted Hispanic Latino culture, I was brought up with a very strong work ethic,” said Rjasko.
The two women sharing words of encouragement for other young latinas going after their goals.
“The obstacles are there, but you can do it,” said Perez.
“Take every stride you need to take to get there don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it, don’t set yourself short,” said Rjasko.