Congratulations to Kerri Johnson
Kerri Johnson was recognized at an awards ceremony hosted by the ExtraOrdinary Women Project. We are proud to share her story!
At a recent community event, Bloomington Police Officer Kerri Johnson accompanied the Community Engagement Sergeant with the Bloomington Police Department. While going about her normal role of interacting and talking with various members of the Bloomington community, one woman was moved to tears when she saw Officer Johnson.
At the event as a female officer, and also as a Black officer, Johnson made an impact in that woman’s life that day. The woman approached Officer Johnson, expressing gratitude that Bloomington has diversity in their department, including minority groups, as well as women within those groups.
To some, this may just be a feel-good story, but to Bloomington Police Officer Kerri Johnson this meant that she was achieving exactly what she had set out to do - make a difference. Kerri is a product of an active, and noticeable change towards inclusion and diversity within not only our local community, but within the greater police system as a whole. And this is just one example of how Officer Kerri Johnson is a pillar of support in our local community. She continues to be a role model, empowering other women and minorities to make a difference within their own communities. She continues to amaze and inspire those around her daily. “Somebody who thought they couldn’t do what I do, maybe now I can be their reason to try it,” Officer Johnson shares with a kind smile.
As a single mother of two young children, a 7-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son, Johnson is a “hero” to her kids. Though they may not understand what their mother’s job entails, they know enough to know that she is making a difference within their community.
Officer Johnson’s story is one of perseverance and dedication that even she does not always give herself credit for. She is a perfect example of an extraordinary woman because she is creating a wave of positive change that affects others on a daily basis. She balances being an active career woman, working third shift - otherwise known as the night shift - while raising her own family. She does it all with a grace that makes it look easy.
Kerri was born and raised in Bloomington by her grandparents and experienced a pretty normal childhood, she says. She went to Bloomington High School, graduating in 2011. Johnson felt safe being raised in Bloomington and hung around with friends and kept herself involved by playing sports, specifically basketball.
She continued to focus on athletics, using the healthy competition with her older sister to help her stay motivated. Though they did not always get along due to their sporty-sibling rivalry they grew close after high school and continue to remain so.
“I could not juggle all of this if it wasn’t for the help of my grandparents and sister,” she notes. Her family assists her daily by helping watch her two children while she works. “My family is the most important thing to me,” she adds.
After high school, Kerri joined the National Guard. She had received some interest from small colleges to play basketball, but at age 18 she says she just wasn’t ready and hoped to play on a grander scale.
Kerri enrolled in basic training for nearly half a year. She notes the experience taught her discipline as well as helped her to build her self-confidence. “I learned to not doubt my capabilities,” she adds.
After her initial service in the National Guard Kerri decided that she did still want to attend college, and she reached back out to some schools that had shown interest in her joining their basketball teams. She received an honorable discharge in 2013 from the National Guard and noted that many schools were still extending her athletic scholarships. She chose to attend Lincoln College, a nearby junior college. Kerri attended school and played basketball on scholarship for two years.
She earned her associate’s degree. Though she is not currently enrolled in a bachelor’s program, she plans to earn her advanced degree in the near future. “College was great. The Lincoln campus was small and personal. The student body was diverse, ” Kerri shares.
Johnson hit an unexpected rough patch in her college career her sophomore year when she tore her ACL, preventing her from playing basketball. Being a collegiate athlete gave her something to work for, to look forward to, and to give her structure. Without this, Kerri said she had a hard time carving out her own identity since she was no longer a student-athlete.
As an athlete, Kerri always knew there was an expiration date to her game, but that endpoint came sooner than expected. It was difficult for her to transition, she recalls, saying, “At that time the only reason why I was going to school was to play basketball. I was hoping to play for two years and then earn a scholarship to a bigger school to complete my career and degree.”
This hardship proved to be a sign of resilience for her even if she didn’t know what to do at the time without basketball. “It was always ‘Class, Practice, Repeat,” Kerri says of her sport-life balance. “It was difficult, especially at that young age, to deal with.” She was 20 years old.
But Kerri continued to pivot and focused on her studies. She knew she wanted to choose a career in which she could help others and was torn between nursing and law enforcement. She leaned toward medicine because she has always loved babies and dreamed of working in obstetrics.
However, after living in Richmond, Virginia and working in a local hospital emergency room, Kerri realized that nursing wasn’t her calling. It just wasn’t what she expected it to be, she says.
“After some time being confined to four walls was not the avenue I wanted to go down,” she adds. “That’s when I decided to go into law enforcement.”
Though she loved Richmond because of its diversity and opportunity, Kerri knew that she ultimately wanted to come back home to Bloomington. She preferred a smaller community like Bloomington.
Kerri attended the Macon County Law Enforcement Training Center (MCLETC) in Decatur, IL. “The academy was similar to basic training for the military, although more relaxed.”
As a true-crime connoisseur, Kerri was originally interested in becoming a homicide detective. However, in Bloomington she realized that there isn’t a need for specialist detectives.
After her police training, Kerri considered moving to a larger community to pursue her initial dream of working within a specialty unit. However, after much contemplation she knew how happy she was in Bloomington and that there were opportunities for growth within the Bloomington Police Department. She hopes to continue working up the ranks within the department, striving towards leadership roles. Eventually, she would like to be in leadership, but as a relatively new officer of only three years, she says she has a long way to go.
In February, Kerri grabbed the opportunity to become a field training officer which she described as an officer who helps new officers learn the ropes. First, new officers must go through the Police Academy. After the Academy, new officers are assigned to a field training officer. Field training consists of four phases and four officers are associated with each phase. Field training is a fairly long process that can last some three months per officer. At the end of field training, the officer will return to their first phase officer. The point of this type of training is to be shown by example how to effectively perform your job as a police officer.
“While the Academy is in place to teach you the laws and the basics to build from, field training is learning how to apply that knowledge and learn your department’s guidelines and practices. Someone is showing you the ropes along the way,” she notes.
Officer Johnson has been honored with three Bloomington Police Department Exemplary Performance Awards, as well as a Letter of Commendation award in her short time at the BPD for how she has handled her calls, and has become a role model to not only her community and her children, but to her coworkers as well.
"There is zero doubt Kerri will continue to overcome any obstacles before her and be a future leader in the BPD and this community. Memorializing her sacrifices with this nomination will not only solidify her worthiness, but also inspire more women and her children for generations,” Bloomington Police Chief Jamal Simington says.
In addition to her role as a field training officer, Officer Johnson is also helping the Bloomington Police Department achieve their 30x30 recruitment goals. 30x 30 is a pledge that the BPD has taken to ensure that by 2030 their department will be 30 percent female in an effort to create more diversity within the police force.
“It’s better to police a community that you reflect,” notes Officer Johnson. She hopes to bridge the divide that has existed in the police system for generations.
“We need women, and we need diversity. We need to make people feel comfortable as officers,” she adds.
Kerri hopes that her involvement will show other women as well as other minorities within the community that they can work towards becoming a police officer too. “It is not us versus them. We are committed to creating an atmosphere here where everyone feels comfortable and is welcomed.”
“This 30x30 Pledge isn’t just being practiced within Bloomington. This is a national pledge to advance women in policing,” says Kerri. “The police department as a whole is driving local efforts.”
“Sometimes you need change to engage the future of the department and I think that’s great,” Officer Johnson says, indicating that change is natural and necessary.
When Officer Johnson first started at BPD, she joined another Black woman who has since left to pursue other opportunities. She appreciated how this officer took her under her wing and she hopes to do the same for others, especially those who are underrepresented. Kerri is focusing her energy on recruiting more minority women so that people feel they are included and welcomed at the Bloomington Police Department.
“When there’s nobody that looks like you, it’s hard to imagine yourself working in that environment. However, I envision our community growing as a diverse group of people come together to help others.
Though Officer Johnson’s humility keeps her from boasting, upon being asked what makes a woman extraordinary, she shares, “I may not be there yet, but a Level 10 – an extraordinary woman – is someone who is selfless, fearless and resilient. Despite the hardships they face, they continue to push forward. Being extraordinary is someone who positively impacts others without trying and strives to be a better person not only for themselves, but for those around them.”
“I guess that is me,” she adds with a humble smile.
Above story written by EOW Intern Kaitlyn Klepec.
