Sirat Aden, left, of Faribault kisses her daughter Ikran Mohamed after pinning her badge during a recruit class graduation ceremony in Minneapolis on Thursday. Mohamed is the first non-citizen to become a sworn officer in the Minneapolis Police Department. (Credit: Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
As well-wishers flocked officer Ikran Mohamed, 4-year-old Amira Shafii raised her little arm in a proud salute — her auntie’s new police cap perched lopsided on her head. The “junior officer” cracked a smile.
Mohamed, dressed in a black hijab, adjusted her newly pinned badge with henna-laced hands. She’d just become the first Somali woman to ever join the Minneapolis Police Department.
“I want to be a role model for girls who look like me, so they can say ‘I can do it, too,’” Mohamed, 23, told reporters Thursday night following a graduation ceremony honoring 11 new recruits and 12 lateral hires from other Minnesota law enforcement agencies. “I’m just very excited to be here and represent my people and my community.”
Mohamed immigrated to the United States from Kenya when she was 10 years old. She previously worked as a corrections officer in Steele County. (Read more: The Minnesota Star Tribune, 9/28/2024) (Archive)
BREAKING: The Minneapolis Police Department just added the first “non-citizen” officer to their police force… pic.twitter.com/B7VvLqqhw2
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