Deputy Heather, reporting for duty

WORDS BY BRYN FOX

Deputy Heather van Hemert works in a field dominated by men. But she doesn’t see it that way. “To be completely honest, I’ve never looked at careers as a man’s or a woman’s place. I’ve looked at the jobs and asked myself if I believed I could be good at this and excel,” she says. After watching her dad as a reserve police officer, Heather realized that what she really wanted to do was to help people. So she followed in her father’s footsteps.

The road to the uniform was not always easy. Though being a woman didn’t get in her way, her dyslexia and struggles with her weight did. It took tremendous determination and support from her family to eventually be able to pass the written test to become a peace officer. In addition, her agility was lacking. But she worked on her strength and refused to quit.

Heather has now spent eight years as a police officer. During that time, she worked for three years as a highly trained member of the SWAT team and became the first ever female canine handler at the Santa Paula Police Department. She made detective there, before accepting a position as deputy with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department. Being a woman has not held her back one bit. “This job is not about being the strongest, but it helps out immensely to be fit and level-headed.” Instead of size or gender, Heather says that what it really takes to excel in this field, is to be a people person.

Though she has only been assigned to Carpinteria for nine months, Heather has felt welcomed into the community. Every community she has worked in, she acknowledges, has made her feel welcome, a fact she attributes to her empathy. Her goal? To be kind and always help whomever she can. An ambassador to the field, Heather says, “If I can prove to a single person that we are not all bad, that we have hearts also, then I think I’ve accomplished something pretty special.”

What’s next for Deputy Heather? She hopes to become the first female canine handler for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department and to become a member of the SWAT team. “As for higher aspiration, of course I would love to show that I would be a great leader. Not just for my department, but my community.”