LEXINGTON, S.C. – Deputy Hannah Joslin knew she wanted to go into law enforcement since she was a child.
Her dad is a retired state trooper, and her mom worked for an attorney.
Joslin interned with a few law enforcement agencies in the Midlands before finding her way to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department through the internship program in her senior year at the University of South Carolina. After college, she started at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in December 2020 and graduated two months later.
As a female law enforcement officer, Joslin has found herself proving people wrong.
“A lot of people like to underestimate me just because I am small, and I’m a person that likes to prove people wrong, so that’s pretty much what I did,” Joslin said. “There’s a stereotype of only men can be in law enforcement or taller women, and I don’t fit that stereotype.”
Joslin has also gained a lot of confidence in doing her job, like using a sterner voice to get someone’s attention. It has helped her overcome challenging situations with suspects, one specifically with a drunk suspect who tried to kiss her.
“His wife had called saying he was threatening suicide and he had just quit his job without notice and put in for his retirement. He was highly intoxicated when we got there, and he kept asking for cigarettes before he even got in the ambulance,” Joslin said. “My partner went inside the house to get him another cigarette, so I stood in front of the door so he wouldn’t go inside. And he walked up toward me and puckered up.”
Joslin also credits her co-workers in the West Region for helping her early on in her career. She said they have become her second family.
“I’m like the annoying little sister they never wanted, but they got anyways,” Joslin said. “They’re all like big brothers to me… We all hang out after shift. We go to each other’s houses. We have cookouts, stuff like that.”
Joslin also finds that welcoming sense in the Lexington County community as a whole. She said she’s thankful for how supportive the community is of law enforcement and appreciates when she sees that support.
She was in her car on the way to work one day and experienced a little boy showing that support to her firsthand.
“He was screaming at me, ‘Thank you for your service!’” Joslin said. “I had to roll down my window for him because I had no clue what he was saying… I’m happy to do it, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t willing to do it.”