Years of Service: 1999-2017

In part 2, Jess begins discussing the start of a great career with the Hayward Police Department. She had finally arrived at a police department and community where she was working on real crime including homicide, sexual assault, burglary, home invasions, and gang activity. During the first few years, Jess was doing the job she believed she was always meant to do. However, along the way, incidents began happening within the police department that she could not ignore and when she reported what was going on to her chain of command, she soon found herself under internal affair investigations and worse many officers of her own department would no longer respond to her calls for backup. During this time, the Hayward Police Department begrudgingly made her a K9 officer, hoping she would fail. Through this adversity, Jess became a successful K9 officer who had two dogs during her career and was assigned to the SWAT Team. Jess formed an inseparable bond with both dogs who became her best friends and partners and were there in every instance when other officers would not respond. For current officers on the job, this story is about someone standing up against the system and ensuring we always try to do what is right.