HAHIRA – “Hahira is home,” Shannon Kingston said. 

She keeps a photograph of her father, a former Hahira dispatcher and jailer, in her desk drawer. In the photo, he dons a police uniform; Kingston would wear her own uniform years later.

She became the first female officer to be hired by the Hahira Police Department in 2002. She is now one of two female officers for the department.

Kingston has also worked for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office as a dispatcher and jailer to total 20 years in law enforcement.

She has been in the Navy Reserves for 14 years and ranks as an E6 in active-duty. Since joining, she has deployed to Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and Bahrain.

Kingston said it was the show “ChiPs” that got her interested in law enforcement.

“I had a CHiPs edition Big Wheels to patrol my driveway when I was 3,” Kingston said.

She entered into the police academy in 2002 but she said she did not like most of the training.

“They were really long days of training and long nights of studying,” Kingston said. “I loved the week of EVOC (emergency vehicle operations course). You could tell who was used to driving on dirt roads when we entered the skid pad part of the course.”

Through the years, she climbed up the ladder and became a Hahira police lieutenant in 2013. Out of all of her responsibilities, she said she enjoys helping the community the most.

As lieutenant, she assists Hahira Police Chief Terry Davis with administrative tasks, preparing felony cases for superior court and scheduling child forensic interviews for cases involving the Children’s Advocacy Center of Lowndes County.

Kingston deems assisting with the removal of children from their homes as the toughest calls she has had to respond during her career.

She recalled helping the Department of Family and Children Services with removing children out of a home that was unsanitary.

“The parents were charged and convicted,” she said. “I had to burn my uniform and (I) still have flashbacks of how bad the house was.”

When faced with a tough task, or a difficult call, she relies on her faith and allows herself to reset beachside or at concerts.

Being a female officer in her earlier days meant she would have to assist other agencies with searching women and conducting other tasks if she was the only female officer in the county.

Kingston said the most common misconception about female officers is they are either too weak or too aggressive.

She advocates for more uniforms, body armor and boots be designed for female officers.

Kingston encourages more women join law enforcement but she recommends they earn a bachelor’s degree prior to entering the police academy. She graduated from Valdosta State University in May and received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

“Go for it,” she said. “Don’t let anyone discourage you from following your dreams.”

She noted the Georgia Association of Women in Public Safety holds a training conference annually.

Kingston was nominated to be the Valdosta Junior Women’s Club 2018 Woman of the Year. She is president of the Hahira Lions Club and is a member of the American Legion Post 218.