Making a Dream Come True with Courage, Preparation, and a Plan #PGSOisEverywhere

Upper Marlboro, MD…The dream of becoming a deputy sheriff began to take shape for Toria Roberts during a college internship with the Office of the Sheriff. Today, that dream is a reality because Deputy Roberts graduated from Police Academy Training Class Session 135 on May 2, 2018 to become the first law enforcement officer in her family.

Reaching her goal didn’t just happen. Deputy Roberts had to navigate the distance between her internship in the Sheriff’s Office and becoming a sheriff’s deputy. It’s a classic case of how to get from here to there. The answer for Toria Roberts is that she formulated and visualized a plan that she put in motion to make her dream come true.

Deputy Roberts says it all began when she interned at the Sheriff’s Office during the fall semester of 2013 as her college graduation approached. “It was kind of a surprising and strange feeling but I felt like I’d come face to face with my purpose in life.”

Ven Chapman, Executive Assistant to Chief Assistant Palmer, manages the Sheriff’s Office college and summer intern program says she saw Toria’s interest in the Sheriff’s Office growing. “I admired Toria’s tenacity from the beginning. When I met her she was working, going to school, and then interning with us. I saw her interest in law enforcement grow during the internship. We stayed in touch after her internship and I urged her to apply for an agency job opening after she graduated.”

Toria took Ms. Chapman’s advice. She applied and was hired for a civilian position in the Sheriff’s Office after she graduated from Bowie State University with a degree in Sociology with a minor in Criminal Justice in 2016. While Toria learned more about the Sheriff’s Office in her position in Warrants Processing, she stayed focused on her long-term goal by physical conditioning training so she could meet the fitness requirements of the police academy. Pam Cherry, who supervised Roberts in Warrants Processing believes Roberts’ civilian experience gave her a better understanding of the agency that will be helpful to her as a deputy. “I believe Deputy Roberts will go far in the agency,” she said. “I admired her work ethic; she always came early and stayed late to complete her work.”

Roberts’ hard work payed off. She was hired as a deputy recruit and entered the police training academy in September of 2017. As a female student deputy, she was taught to remain focused throughout the academy. “Although law enforcement continues to evolve, in many ways it remains a male-dominated environment. That’s not negative, it’s just a fact that makes women hyper-aware to distractions.”

From academy graduation to field training, Deputy Roberts says she appreciated the valuable information that was shared by each of her Field Training Officers (FTO). She says they had different styles of teaching and different styles of leadership. One FTO with a military background was highly detail oriented, while another was less so and allowed Roberts to learn more by doing, if she could do so safely. “Every FTO experience was valuable and it’s an eye-opening difference between the classroom and actually being on duty,” said Deputy Roberts.

Toria Roberts was born and raised in Prince George’s County, where she grew up in Accokeek community and graduated from Gwynn Park High School. As communities across the country grapple with the loss of young people who don’t return to their home communities after college because of a lack of career opportunities, Deputy Roberts is an example of a well-educated native Prince Georgian who saw opportunity in her home community and chose to serve.

Ven Chapman thinks Toria is a perfect example of the importance of the internship opportunities. “Deputy Roberts is the realization of what our goal is with internships - to expose young people to career opportunities right here in Prince George’s County and to hire them to serve in the community they know and love,” she says. “With a relevant minor in Criminal Justice, Toria might have chosen to begin her career in law enforcement someplace else but because of her experience here, she chose the Office of the Sheriff.”

Deputy Roberts agrees “I’m not sure I would have considered the Sheriff’s Office, but after learning so much during the internship, I really enjoyed the accessible size of the agency and the whole experience made me want to learn more.”

Roberts is already thinking about the next 5 years during which she plans to work toward being promoted as far as she can be in this agency. She is also interested in joining the K-9 Unit in the future, but for now, she loves her job as a deputy and is committed to being one of the best deputies in the agency.

 

Sounds like a plan.