Ep. 72 Kent PD’s Tessa Melville discusses the critical incidents that formed her including responding to a line of duty death and her decision to return to patrol from Detective in Special Assault Unit.

Ep. 72 Tessa Melville has been with the Kent Police Department for eight years, though her introduction to law enforcement began much earlier through her stepfather, a police officer, and her mother, a dispatcher. The realities of the job were made very clear before she even started. At just 16 years old, Tessa joined her parents in attending the memorial service for the devastating ambush murders of four Lakewood Police Department officers – known as the Lakewood Four – all of them gunned down as they sat in a coffee shop on a Sunday morning in 2009.

With only three months on with Kent PD, Tessa would face her own critical incidents including responding to the scene of the line of duty death of Kent Police Officer Diego Moreno during which she rendered aid to both him and another officer seriously wounded in a crash at the scene. We discuss the lasting impact of this incident on her and how it helped shape her career and her outlook.

After three years in patrol, Tessa became a field training officer, a role which she says has been one of her most challenging. A few years later, Tessa joined the Detective Unit to work Special Assault, cases which include sexual assault, domestic violence, internet crimes against children, and elder abuse. Tessa decided to join this unit in part because of her personal experience as a sexual assault survivor. She wanted to bring her learnings and a trauma-informed approach to the work. However, after nearly two years as a detective on this unit, Tessa decided to return to patrol while continuing to investigate some of her cases, the reasons for which we will discuss.

We also talk about how she didn't really consider law enforcement as a profession even with her family affiliation. She chose first to go into the military, where she spent five years in the Navy as a Green Side hospital corpsman where she received specialized training in traumatic field care, training she has put to use as a police officer.

Thank you, Tessa. You can find Tessa:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tessamelville/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessa-m-210959114/

I would like to honor the service and ultimate sacrifice of Officer Diego Moreno. EOW Sunday, July 22, 2018

https://www.odmp.org/officer/23727-police-officer-diego-moreno

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