Sheriff’s Deputy Kandace Wilson graduated from West Limestone High School in 2017, but she knew long before that she wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement.

“I’ve known since I was, like, 15 years old,” Wilson said, explaining that watching Law & Order SVU hooked her on law enforcement. “I know it’s just a show,” she said, but she knew that’s what she wanted to do.

When Wilson was 19-years-old, she worked in the jail for a year and a half and has been on patrol for two years now. She is the only female on patrol at the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office, according to Sheriff Josh McLaughlin.

“I decided I didn’t want to work in the jail no more and I was finally ready to be out on patrol and just applied, and they gave me the job,” and then she went to the academy before being put on patrol alone, she explained.

To Wilson, the most challenging part of the academy was getting in shape.

“That’s not an issue anymore, because I stay working out all the time now,” she said.

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed. The sheriff said, “she works hard to stay up to speed and continue to be great at her job.”

“She has a very strong work ethic,” McLaughlin said. “That work ethic will allow her to do whatever she wants in law enforcement.”

This year, she was named Deputy of the Year, which is an award voted on by her colleagues. “It’s pretty cool, I was not expecting it. Just makes you feel like you’re doing your job good and that the department appreciates you.”

Wilson says her favorite part of the job is serving warrants.

“I like going and serving warrants and pulling people over and getting drugs off of people,” she said that she mainly wants to help protect the community.

McLaughlin said Wilson has a dedication to the people she serves.

“She’s always the first one to volunteer to go to a school or help with a community event. She wants to do more than just serve, really be a part of the community,” he said.

While serving warrants and making arrests is her favorite part of the job, it’s also the most challenging part.

“You have to make sure you are following all the laws … like making sure you don’t violate anybody’s rights when you’re searching a vehicle or anything like that,” she said.

Being the only female on patrol in Limestone County isn’t surprising in the male dominated field. But, the sheriff points out that it doesn’t stop her from anything.

“She keeps up,” McLaughlin said. “She’s always doing more training and making sure she can do the job. I believe she is going to go far in her career.”

Wilson received her degree in criminal justice from Columbia Southern in Mobile.

“That helped a lot because you got to know case law a lot on patrol and as a deputy, so it helped like learning all those different case laws while I was in school,” she said.

To high school seniors who intend to pursue a career in law enforcement, Wilson says to never give up.

“If they have like anything that gets in their way,” such as the half mile run, “never give up, keep trying.”