Mobile Police Department highlighting women in policing

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - The Mobile Police Department continues to shine a light on women in policing.

This month’s honor goes to Sergeant Jennifer Wilson.

Sergeant Wilson, no stranger to Mobile, has worked in law enforcement for the last twenty years.

Those two decades were spent with MPD.

Wilson is a Mary G. Montgomery graduate. She went on to receive her bachelor’s degree from Columbia Southern University in criminal justice.

She knew she always wanted to work in public service.

“I always wanted to work in a field that was different and I always wanted to be a police officer,” Sergeant Wilson said. “And being in the military kind of inspired me to be a police officer to continue to serve my community.”

Wilson says it’s been a challenging road getting to where she is now.

In a field mostly dominated by men, she was recently promoted to patrol sergeant and teaches new police recruits.

A role she’s happy to be making a difference in.

“When I came on almost twenty years ago there were very few females, and I wanted to do something different,” Wilson said. “I wanted to do something to challenge myself. And I knew that this was something in my heart that I always wanted to accomplish.”

Now with a year under her belt in this new role, nervous at first, she says this is the best thing that could’ve happened.

“I was really hesitant as a female sergeant. My main worry was building trust with the guys and it took me stepping out of my comfort zone to come here and to move up in the ranks. And it’s the best thing that’s happened to me,” Sergeant Wilson said.

Sergeant Wilson encourages any woman looking to pursue a career in this field to go for it and not hesitate.

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