At quick glance, you might mistake her for a student; two years ago officer Hannah DeAngelo was one.

"I can relate to these students' college life, the workload,trying find a job when you get out,extracurriculars,just the day in and day out of college life" DeAngelo said.

During her senior year at UNC Greensboro, DeAngelo interned with the Town of Elon Police Department, where she worked closely with university police. However, DeAngelo, did not anticipate returning to Elon this quickly.

"Never in a million years did I think I would end up on a college campus or in the same environment that I just graduated from. I always pictured myself in a small city or town. I never really pictured myself at a small university," DeAngelo said.

At 23 years old, DeAngelo is the youngest university police officer. DeAngelo she hopes her age makes her more approachable to students.

"I can sit down and have a conversation with you it's not like it's not like im interviewing you or interrogating you," she said.

University police have three women on their force and DeAngelo said that with sensitive cases, being just a couple years out of school is her biggest advantage.

"For females, a lot of them feel more comfortable talking to a female, and not just a female that has a lot of experience or that you think could be your aunt or your mother, even, age wise but somebody you could look at like a friend," DeAngelo said.

But sometimes age and gender can be her biggest challenge says DeAngelo. According to the US Department of Justice, women make up only 13 percent of law enforcement in the United States.

"People don't look at you the same my other colleague do, there's no doubt about that. I'm equal among all the other officers here but when you go out into the public,especially when they don't anticipate a woman coming, it's kind of a shock," she said.

At the end of the day, DeAngelo says its the students that make those challenges and her 12 hour shifts worth it.

"I've really enjoyed talking to the students because where there's always some bad apples, there's also some that are really appreciative of my service and they really want to talk to me everyday and I'm able to help them so between them and my administration, it's just the perfect combination of the two," she said.

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