CRISFIELD, Md. - A new police officer in Delmarva is breaking barriers as the first Latina police officer in Crisfield. She shares her story and shows WRDE how she plans to bring the community together.
"I wanted to make a little bit of a difference," said Viridiana Villafuerte, the first Latina police officer for Crisfield Police Department.
Breaking language barriers and helping serve hard-to-reach communities like the growing Hispanic population.Â
"They would feel more comfortable coming to somebody of their own ethnicity and actually wanting to report stuff," added Villafuerte.
An addition to the team that Captain Rick Taylor says has been a long time coming.
"In a time where the community doesn't really trust the officers, I think it's very important that we have a bilingual Hispanic female that can help strengthen that bond between us and our Hispanic community," explained Capt. Rick Taylor.
Mexican-American and proud. Thankful for her parents who sacrificed everything they had to give her and her siblings a better life.
"My parents really busted their butts off for us and me being somebody in life is kinda like a way of me repaying to them and my community being there for my community and making my parents proud," said Villafuerte.
Happy to see that her hard work at the Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy at Wor-Wic Community College paid off after struggling to afford school.
"Even though I had to stop going to school for a period of time I still kept working, tried to save up money, I still tried to apply to different departments, and eventually I made my way here," added Villafuerte.
The first but hopefully not the last.
"I look forward to seeing what the future holds," said Capt. Rick Taylor.
