Sabrina Wood applied to the Yale University Police Department on what she calls a whim. Eighteen years later she is a lieutenant with hopes of one day becoming the department’s first female chief.

When she took the department’s exam for potential hires, she was not yet old enough to serve. She scored well and then navigated the oral board interview, where she addressed concerns about her age and life experience. Later as she was nearing college graduation, she got the call and soon started the police academy.

While officers face many challenges, Wood says the biggest for her has been balancing the responsibilities of being a mother with the demands of her career.

“This job often comes with long, unpredictable hours and assignments, or difficult schedules, but being a mom has a similar unpredictability,” says Wood. “Juggling all those things required careful planning, patience, and support from my department, colleagues, and family.”

While being a mom, she also took time to attend the 11-week FBI National Academy and says that would not have been possible without the support of her family, friends, and department.

She is proud to have removed many violent criminals and guns off the street, but the true highlight of her career was when she spoke to her daughter’s fourth-grade class about internet security and the entire class saluted her as she left.

“It was both the most heartwarming and hilarious moment of my career, especially when we consider the current culture of law enforcement,” she explains.

Her career path has featured a variety of assignments, the most rewarding of which has been planning for all major university events. Those range from small intimate gatherings to football games with more than 70,000 attendees. She also led the planning for a commencement where the sitting vice president was the keynote speaker.

For years Wood has aspired to be the first female chief of her department, which she says, “Has made big strides over the last few years and forward progress in fostering diversity and inclusion within law enforcement is crucial for creating a more representative and effective organization.”