Student Highlight: Chelsea Winslow
Hometown: Ogden, UT
Languages: English, Spanish
Semester: 5th
Favorite Courses: Perspectives of Counterterrorism with Amos Guiora, National Security Policy with
General Slack, Immigration Law with Steve Nelson, Criminal Justice Policy with Ed
McConkie
Police officers are the humble heroes of our communities, risking their lives on a daily basis so we can stay safe. Chelsea Winslow truly is one of these heroes.
Chelsea has been a police officer for over four years serving in patrol, the High Risk Victims Unit, and as a Field Training Officer. Chelsea juggles a rigorous schedule including sometimes working throughout the night and then heading to class the next day. At times, Chelsea’s schedule is so tight that she comes to class straight from work still dressed in a full-fledged police uniform.
Chelsea loves being a police officer because she has a direct impact on people’s lives. As the refugee population in Utah has increased, Chelsea has had the ability to create a positive view of law enforcement for them. Recently, Chelsea was called into a situation which included helping a family from Iraq. It was empowering for her to be able to calm the family down and ensure them that they would be taken care of. Leaving the scene, Chelsea felt optimistic about the interaction and happy about the positive impact she had on their perspective of law enforcement.
One of Chelsea’s major goals as a police officer is to be a mentor for other women in uniform. As a Field Training Officer, she has helped other women with their career goals by giving them advice and tools for how to be successful. Chelsea wants to make sure she assists other women in climbing the career ladder just as she is doing.
Not only should Chelsea be recognized simply for her law enforcement work, but Chelsea really puts her heart into her job. She was awarded the Sheriff's Star Award for stopping an attempted suicide and saving a woman’s life. Additionally, she has been named Officer of the Month three times for the Taylorsville Precinct.
Police officers don’t always have the opportunity to see the impact they make on others. One of Chelsea’s most treasured memories is when she was stopped while walking out of a courthouse by a woman who thanked her immensely for her service as a police officer. This women explained that it is inspirational seeing a woman serving in law enforcement.
In addition to helping others daily in her job, Chelsea has chosen to participate in the Police Unity Tour - a 300 mile bike ride from New Jersey to Washington D.C. honoring police officers who have died in the line of duty. The ride will end with a candlelight vigil by over 50,000 people as the names of the fallen officers during 2016 are officially added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Chelsea shares, “I will ride in honor of Officer Doug Barney, Officer Cody Brotherson, and K9 Officer Aldo who all paid the ultimate sacrifice protecting their communities.”
Chelsea received her undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology. She chose the MIAGE program because of its interdisciplinary approach and flexibility to choose classes based on her future goals. Plus, everyone she saw who came through the program seemed to have found awesome opportunities for work.
Chelsea hopes to continue her career in criminal justice by combating transnational crime including drug trafficking, human trafficking, and terrorism in local or federal law enforcement. The MIAGE program has been a great learning experience for her and all of her research has tied directly to her career goals. For the last two semesters she has also been serving on the Counterterrorism Simulation creation team for the Perspectives of Counterterrorism class, setting up intricate simulations for students to perform to gain counterterrorism experience.
We congratulate Chelsea on her upcoming graduation and wish her luck on the upcoming Police Unity Tour!