TYLER, Texas — This is Women in Law-Enforcement Week, and since it’s also Hispanic Heritage Month, CBS19 wanted to highlight the first Hispanic woman detective on the Tyler Police Department.
April Molina is a Tyler native, born and raised. When her father and brother were killed by a drunk driver, she decided she wanted to be involved in law enforcement. She started her career as a 911 dispatcher then attended the Tyler Police Academy, became an officer and worked her way up the ranks.
Two years ago, Molina became the first Hispanic female to be a detective on the Tyler force. She hopes to end the under-reporting of crime in the Hispanic community.
"Because one, the language barrier, maybe they don’t trust us," Detective Molina said. "So I’m hopeful that maybe if they see someone that looks like them [and says] 'Hey I speak Spanish, I understand, my parents immigrated here, I understand. We are here to help you, if something bad happens to you it doesn’t mean that you don’t report it.'"
Detective Molina is the mother of three young girls and she wants to show them that if you work hard, you can get to where you want to be, no matter your gender or your race.
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