Name: Kimberly Sauceda
Job. Police officer
Age: 23
 
What shift do you work, and what section of town do you work in?
 
I work the East side of San Antonio on dog-watch. Roll call is at 22:30 (10:30 pm) for me, and i try to get off work by 6:30 a.m., but 6:30 doesn't always happen. 
 
Have you always known that you wanted to be a cop? If so, why?
 
In elementary (school) I felt like a mini traffic officer when I was in patrols. When I went off to middle school, I would hang around the police officers that would patrol the school and hear all their stories. I think hearing the exciting parts of the job got me interested in pollicing.
 
What are the biggest misconceptions that people have about police officers?
 
I think the biggest misconception comes from the show COPS. Some people watch COPS and think that we get into a high-speed chase every night. A chase every day would be exciting, but it just doesn't happen like that.
 
What is the scariest incident that you have ever experienced on duty?
 
It was my first week out on my own, and I got a call for an accident on the highway. When I got there the lady had hit some ice on the road and lost control into a light pole. The accident was on a curve so it was hard for oncoming traffic to see the lights to my unit. My cover, a classmate of mine, showed up, and we needed to move the light pole out of the street. As we are moving the pole we hear a high-pitched squeal; we look up and another car hit that same ice patch on the road and was coming straight toward us. We started sprinting. I don't think I have ever seen my classmate run so fast. The guy came so close to hitting my patrol unit. I thought he did hit it, and I was so scared that I blocked the noise of the crash out. From that point on, we stayed completely out of the path of the ice patch.
 
Do you think that perpetrators treat you differently because you are a woman?
 
I hear it all the time. I don't think too many male officers get marriage proposals by the guy they are taking to jail. While I was in the academy, I would always get teased about my sound-off voice, I would get that double look to make sure it was me they were hearing. One of my instructors would always say, "You could really scare someone in the dark." The first guy I got in a foot chase with for a theft, froze when I told him to get on the ground. After I handcuffed him and took him to the back of the patrol car, he leaned forward into the light and said, "You're a girl!"
 
How do you "turn off" the cop switch when you are off duty? Or are you a police officer 24/7?
 
Sometimes I wish I can just go home and relax on my days off, but it gets hard to switch it on and off. When I go to a restaurant, I still need to sit in the back of the restaurant to have the largest viewpoint of people entering and exiting the restaurant. The hardest thing for me is talking to people and wondering in the back of my head if they are being completely honest — not everyone spills the truth to police officers, and I just forget that I don't have the uniform on.
 
From a street perspective, what are the biggest obstacles facing young adults today?
 
A lot of young adults are exposed to drugs at such an early age that they don't know how to say no. Once they get, addicted it's hard to break the cycle. I arrested a guy for shoplifting who said he started drinking alcohol in elementary (school) and first smoked pot when he was in the fifth grade. He was 24, a year older than me when I spoke to him. He said he was addicted to crack now and stole anything he could to get some cash for his next high.
 
What's the funniest reason someone gave to get out of getting a ticket?
 
I had pulled over a a guy who had ran a stop sign. When he rolled down his window he said, "My mom said I'm only allowed to get warnings."
 
Is it hard to get a date when someone in the general public finds out you are a police officer?
 
I haven't really been looking for a date since I became a police officer, but I have noticed a change in demeanor when people find out I am a police officer. Some think they have to be on their best behavior to hang out with a cop.
 
CSI or NYPD Blue?
 
I love CSI.