Mindy and Jason

Our lives are pretty unique as we are both law enforcement officers. We are Mindy (writing) and Jason.I have been a police officer for 12.5 years in an area just outside of the St Louis suburbs, while Jason has been in law enforcement for 13 years; working for a large sheriff’s department in the St Louis area.We met in 2008, while we were both on Field Training. I told my FTO that I thought Jason was cute and he told Jason’s FTO what I had just said. I assumed at that point I would need to go ahead and find a new place to work, because of how embarrassing this could have been. We ended up talking and dating, then in quick order, got married in 2009.For my part, I dreamed of being a police officer ever since I was in middle school. I was drawn to the excitement of the job and the potential to make a difference in my community. Ironically, I went to school with “Jim” who was featured in the last badge bio. After graduating high school, I knew I needed to occupy the next 4 years of my life before I could go to the academy, so I went to college.I attended Missouri State University, where I received a double major in Criminology and Sociology. I graduated with Cum Laude honors in 2007 and entered the academy a few months later. I graduated the police academy in 2008 and received the award for top academic recruit.Jason graduated from a very large school in St Charles County and joined the United Stated Marine Corps. He was actually at Camp Pendleton when the 9/11 attacks happened and felt compelled to help his country by doing all he could to keep our country safe. As an infantryman, his unit was involved in the United States’ initial invasion of Iraq, specifically in the area of Nasariyah. Following a second deployment to Iskandariah in Iraq, Jason was Honorably Discharged in 2005.After his service with the Marines, Jason went into the police academy, graduating in 2007 and began working for the same department he is with today. He has earned the rank of Corporal both in the USMC as well as in his current law enforcement career.In our professional lives we do our best to help our community. I am the lead advisor for my department’s Law Enforcement Exploring group. This is a group for kids aged 14-21 who have an interest in law enforcement and the program is overseen by the Boy Scouts. Growing up, I was an explorer and it stoked my desire to do this job. We teach the youth about what officers do and give them hands on learning experiences in controlled environments. We have had many of our explorers go into successful military or law enforcement careers.Jason has become active with a program through the court system in our county; a program which seeks to help veterans and keep first time offenders from entering “the system”. It’s a deferment program where they are given resources to be successful and hopefully get their lives on the right path.While he's at the court house, Jason makes it a point to keep snacks on-hand for the little ones that come to the courthouse where he is assigned as a supervisor in the Civil Division. It’s his way of helping these little children see that police officers are good people despite what they may see and hear at home. He loves to see the smiles on their faces when they get something as simple as a rice crispy treat.When we aren’t working, we love to spend time with our two sons and our treeing walker coonhound. Fitness is a very important part of our lives and we make time to ensure we get at least 3-4 workouts in weekly; while juggling soccer, school, work, and life in general. We enjoy traveling and have a goal to visit every state in the country as a couple and we are about halfway there. We also enjoy the outdoors, where we like to “glamp”, hike through my family’s 200-acre farm, hunt, and just be outside and active in general.We are also avid coffee drinkers, but the funny part is that neither of us drank coffee when we began our relationship. In fact, we didn’t drink coffee until our oldest son was about 3 weeks old and had some really bad colic. I kid you not, we loaded him in his infant carrier and went to Wal-Mart at 3 am to buy coffee and a coffee pot and the rest is history. We have even turned our 7-year-old on to our love of coffee (he only gets decaf). We love to visit small mom and pop coffee shops when we travel.I am a coffee drinker who prefers some cream and flavor in my cup while Jason is quite content with black coffee...as long as it is a high-quality roast.