Officer Amanda Hayes
What excites you most about starting your career in law enforcement?
From start to finish, I plan on doing at least 20 years. Lady Lake is a small town. It is exactly what I was looking for, so what excites me the most is every day you have something different.
How is law enforcement going to be 20 years from now?
You know we're in an ever-changing world. I want to be able to mold myself with this world and make a difference, and sometimes we may not be able to keep up fast enough with it, but if you stop for a minute, and you think about it, you really don't know what's to come about in 20 years. Everything is changing so fast, so that kind of excites me, because you never know what you're going to get. You never know what going to happen, so it keeps you on your toes.
How do you envision making a difference in the Lady Lake Community?
Whether it's Lady Lake or any other community, but of course I'm representing Lady Lake so we'll speak on behalf of Lady Lake, is helping people who can't help themselves. You know we're called for a reason. Essentially, we are a community service to the public, and people call us. We are always a need for all sorts of things. Wherever your imagination can take you, you're going to come across it at some point in time in your career. But the biggest thing is making a difference for the people, so if you can help somebody, that's what matters. It doesn't matter what it is you need, you're here to help people and that's the biggest thing I envision making a difference for Lady Lake.
What advice would you give to someone considering a new career in law enforcement?
The biggest thing is you have to come into this job with an open mind. One of the hardest things for me is you're not going to learn everything overnight. You're not going to know it all. Study in your off time, take advice from fellow co-workers, take it all with a grain of salt. One year, five years -- it's going to take a while. You're not going to learn unless you get placed into a certain situations, but even 20 years in, you're still not going to know it all, because we are in an ever revolving world when it comes to law enforcement. So … come into it with an open mind, take constructive criticism positively, and everything else (take) day by day.
The Lady Lake Police Department is hiring. Apply today.