Transcript
What inspires you from WFSU Public Media? Here's this week's Voices That Inspire. I'm Terry Brown. I'm the Chief of Police at the Florida State University Police Department. I have several family members who were law enforcement officers. So I went to the police academy. I actually worked full time, went at night in Mariana, traveled every night, got back, got up next morning, did the same thing. Graduated top of my class, and then I set my sights on the Sheriff's Department or Florida State University Police Department. They called first. So I began my career at FSU and quite frankly, I never looked back. It's been a very rewarding career. It is a male-dominated field. And usually when I go to conferences, I'm one of the few women sitting in the audience. But starting here, there was only probably two or three women at the time. We've increased those numbers, of course, since then. So it's just pushing and moving forward and putting your elbows up to the table is what you have to do. So that's pretty much what I've built my career on. My uncle inspired me. He retired as a lieutenant with the Eskamey County Sheriff's Department. He was my mentor coming up to the ranks. So I would have to give him the credit. He was an awesome officer. I hope to inspire a lot of women that have thought that maybe there was glass ceilings because there's not. I mean, we can continue to make our place in this field. And we will. It's been a long time coming. It's evolving. Most of the people I work with are, you know, glad to see me in this position. And so I hope I inspire other women as they move up to the ranks and one day become chief or a sheriff of their own department. I tell people, call me. I'd coffee with a cop or pizza with a police, whatever. I want to get out there and meet everybody and let them know what we're here to serve. And if they need us, you know, I don't want anybody to hesitate to call us because we're here. Terry Brown, Chief of Police, FSU Police Department. You're listening to voices that inspire.