Personal Narrative: A Career In Law Enforcement

My mother, Diane Smith, is the subject of my interview and her journey to begin a career in Law Enforcement. When she was 18 years old, she moved from West Jefferson to Wilkes County to begin her college years at Wilkes Community College. Diane lived in an apartment with her best friend and roommate, Nancy Childers. Nancy worked part time at KFC and Diane worked part time at Blue Ridge Opportunity Commission as an office assistant. One afternoon, when Diane got off work at her office job, she drove to KFC to see Nancy. While in the restaurant, she observed an older gentleman dining in the dining room area. He was rugged and un-kept. As she was leaving the restaurant he followed her out to her car and ask for a ride. She was quick to respond that she had to get

The court date was set, and Diane had to appear as the victim of the crime. She was represented by the District Attorney in Wilkes County and the defendants attorney cross examined her when it was his turn. In his questioning of her about the events of the day she was attacked, he ask questions about what she was wearing and implied that she had in some way provoked Mr. Miller to flirt with her, leaving him angry and full of rage. Mr. Miller was released on an insanity plea and placed on probation. The trauma of the crime and the insinuation that she had asked for the attack, deeply discouraged Diane leaving her with a sense of disappointment in the Justice System and a drive to pursue her education in criminal justice hoping to make a difference. She changed her studies from business to criminal justice, graduating in spring of 1984 with an associate degree in Criminal Justice. She began her police officer career at Lenoir Police Department upon graduation. It was a short lived career of one and half years, as she began her family and decided that law enforcement was not the path she wanted to