SUMMIT COUNTY — Commander Lesley Mumford with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office has spent 14 years serving her community by heading up the department’s tactical SWAT Team.
She oversees department operations, but most recently has been preparing for one of the most challenging law enforcement programs on the planet.
“Such a small percent of people in law enforcement have this opportunity,” Mumford said. “It’s a once in several lifetimes opportunity.”
She will be taking part in the FBI National Academy, a grueling 10-week program that blends high-level classroom work with difficult boot camp exercises.
“It is run very much like a boot camp,” Mumford said.
It’s also where Commander Mumford will make history.
“I will be the first transgender person attending the FBI National Academy since it started in 1935,” Mumford said. “I think it exemplifies that people should be able to engage in public service based on their merits, based on their skills, abilities, their desires to service.”
Mumford plans to lead by example at the academy in Virginia, and return to Colorado ready to do what she’s always done – serve her community and help to keep it safe.
“It is service in uniform, and I’ll be just one of many people doing that here in Summit County,” Mumford said.
