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The Takeaway has launched a new series called "To Serve and Protect: Life Behind the Blue Line." We’re asking police officers from across the country to share their experiences of life on the job, given that policing has become highly politicized in recent years.
Heather Taylor is a sergeant with the Metropolitan St. Louis Police Department. In a career that’s spanned 17 years, Sgt. Taylor (pictured above) is the department’s first female sergeant ever assigned to homicide. As an African American, Sgt. Taylor understands the racial divisions that often erode trust between police departments and the people they serve.
Through her position as president of the Ethical Society of Police, she hopes to bridge that divide, by focusing on establishing and strengthening positive relationships with communities across St. Louis.
“We’ve been locking up people for decades, and we are still the most violent city in the country," she says. "You can’t solve crime without your community.”
