Behind Her Badge: A Woman's Journey Into and Out of Law Enforcement - Hardcover

by Ann Marie Dennis (Author)

I've been called a "badass cop" throughout my career but the truth is that isn't the real me - at least, not how I've ever viewed myself. Behind that veneer there has always been an insecure little girl who struggled to find her way in life. I was in search of strength and self-confidence when I entered my law enforcement career, but I ended up suffering new traumas that I was ill prepared to cope with.
I struggled to find success in the tough, gritty, male dominated world of policing. I faced biases, repeated layoffs, and became a seasoned undercover officer working as a prostitute, drug addict, and thief.
I left law enforcement and returned to college, where education and research offered me enlightenment to the realities of policing that I was too submerged into the subculture to see. I was forced to come to grips with the many mistakes and misconceptions I made while working as a police officer and only now do I understand how institutional biases are perpetuating many of the same mistakes I made in policing today.

Author Biography

Ann Marie Dennis spent 20 years working in various areas of law enforcements, including dispatch, corrections, courts, and road patrol. After leaving law enforcement she returned to college where she is completing on her second master's degree and researching police involved shootings.