WACO, Texas — "As a young girl, I always told my mom that I was going to become a police officer, and so I finally did," Migdalia Gamiz said.
From a young age, Gamiz always knew what she wanted to be. Now, she can proudly say she is a detective of Waco's Special Crimes Unit.
6 News is continuing to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by sharing Gamiz's journey from Mexico to Waco.
"I was raised in Robinson by my parents along with my other siblings," Gamiz said. "My parents brought me over when I was two. My parents were not, we weren't rich or anything like that. We grew up poor. My dad worked on a farm for 30 years. My mom stayed at home with us until we were of age, and then she got a job."
"I love that they brought us over here," Gamiz added. "It's the American dream that everybody wishes to have, especially, you know, coming from a country where there's not a lot of benefits."
Before Gamiz joined the city in 2018, she worked for Waco ISD. She said that making the jump to the city would give her a ladder to climb. Being a female cop, Gamiz still faces barriers, but she doesn't let that stop her from doing what she loves.
Part of Gamiz's mission is inspiring other women. She does this through the 30x30 Initiative, a national movement to increase representation of women in police recruit classes to 30% by 2030.
"People take to females different," Gamiz told 6 News. "Sometimes we, we are a motherly figure. We have that calming nature too, you know, and so that'll help sometimes alleviate situations."
Although Gamiz is a mother of two, she doesn't want the motherly instinct or being a woman to deter girls from being police officers. She just wants to inspire young girls, just like she was one day.
"Set the goal," Gamiz said. "Do it, don't let because something is a male dominated field stop you from, you know, fulfilling your dreams of becoming a police officer."
Gamiz also has other assets that help her be better able to serve her community.
"It's pretty regular that somebody will reach out to me and ask even not just within my unit, it's other units too, that will ask if I'm available to speak Spanish for them," Gamiz said. "We have a lot of Hispanics within the community that are afraid to come forward and talk to us, but, you know, we want them to know that we care. We want everybody to know that we care. It's not just Hispanics, but we want everybody to know that we care."
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