My name is Julie Marin and this is my personal page for 2007.
I will warn you ahead of time. I am fairly long winded but I do have some important things to share and you may be entertained to read on, if for no other reason than to be informed.
My children are very important to me and they are the reason that I get up in the mornings; literally. You see I work swing shift and well the kids are on a day shift schedule!
My other interests include clinical psychology, gender studies, forensic psychology, crime scene reconstruction, behavioral profiling, photography, writing, local and organizational history, and search & rescue dog training and breeding.
This promises to be a special year for me on personal and professional fronts. Some of the topics that I will discuss here include my law enforcement career, my retirement, and moving past �the job� into another adventure in my life. I am passionate about writing. I enjoy writing fiction and true crime and with my background this may have some opportunities.
A little background may be in order to help put things into perspective for new readers.
I am a proud parent of (7) children ranging in ages from 25 to 14 years of age. Four of these children are biologically mine, two are step- children that I helped raise and one is adopted and is as much as part of the family as the others. I am very proud of all of the kids. A special note is that I have two of my adult children whom I will be pinning badges on this year. They have made me extremely proud.
I have been a police officer all of my adult life, coming into the job at age 19. As I grew I swore that I did not want any of them following my footsteps, but with time comes an understanding that they, as I did not listen to my parents in this regard. Both of these kids are smart, and have a lot of integrity. I think that they will make wonderful LEO�s.
My other adult children are in the fashion industry and human services. They have done well for themselves also starting adult lives full of passion and adventure. The three kids that are still in school are of significant interest to me, as they are still being molded and tasked to make good common sense decisions about a life that they have not concrete concept of. Life is unfolding for them and I wish them happiness as they seek their fortunes and futures.
As my children begin their careers I am coming to the end of this part of my life, with retirement close sight. I have done many things in my career. I am proud of most of my professional accomplishments and lived to tell the tales of many of the things that I have experienced. While I am not �proud� of some of these things, they are part of who I am and helped shape a very full and exciting career spanning nearly (30) years.
I have been in shootings, car chases, hunting murders and rapists, and have worked long-term undercover in the child pornography industry for nearly three years. I have had other assignments in the gang unit, narcotics/ covert investigations section and many assignments working �special assignments� for the Office of the Chief of Police, dealing with child sex rings, officer involved criminal investigations, serial rapes and some of the ugliest crimes imaginable to mankind.
With all of these experiences, comes an opportunity to share these subjects and unfolded events with people, so that they can have a glimpse into the lives of the men and women that protect and serve their communities. I am interested in conveying these experiences and my understanding of the �job�, to those interested.
In 1998 I began another journey of sorts; one which put my life on hold for a time. I have known that I was transsexual since my earliest memories in childhood. I tried over the years to conceal these feelings because society does not and certainly did not understand then in the 1960�s, 1970�s and 1980�s. After trying to be what everyone else in my world saw and wanted me to be, I came to the end of my ability to continue in my anatomic birth gender.
I had researched Gender Dysphoria, gender issues, and Transsexualism over the years and finally after many years of therapy decided that I needed to accept myself. Being �authentic� and honest with the world about your gender different feelings is a harrowing experience. Very few people understand, let alone accept, that you have a right to determine who you are and how other people see and perceive you. We do have that right, and I chose to do what I needed to make my life whole, so that I could be here for my children and their future.
I transitioned genders from male to female in 2001 and finally having GRS in Phuket, Thailand in 2003. I returned to work in 2004 with a renewed sense of self, but with a twist, as I had to re-establish my credibility as a female officer when I returned to work. There were those that thought that I was looking for an early retirement, not knowing that I bled Serge Blue.
There were those that felt that I could not do the job as a woman. In many ways they tried to make that a reality by throwing up road-block after road-block and taking the ability and opportunity to go to different units and assignments away. I did experience some of what the early female officers coming into law enforcement, had happen to them. I learned to accept that I was not going anywhere and would retire as a patrol officer after spending 17 years in Detectives. I just was not good enough anymore and was told that on more than one occasion. I felt saddened that the place that I thought of as close to family without being blood would do this to anyone. They did and my eyes began to open.
This does not mean that I could not be effective. It meant that I had to learn how to work smarter and from behind the scenes. When my voice was no longer heard in meetings as a woman, I learned to use others to present my ideas; many times as their own. They listened when I man said it and that was my point.
I have moved away from the anger and sadness that I once had and have a new improved outlook on life and especially life after SJPD. There are so many tings that I want to experience and live and work, have been a means to that end regardless of my initial intent.
Lastly, one of the most profound things that I have done since acknowledging my own gender issues was to seek, contact and organize other law enforcement professionals into a social and professional organization. I helped found this group, along with about (15) other LEO�s and it is one of the proudest achievements of my life. The men and women of TCOPS (the Transgender Community of Police & Sheriffs) are among the best that I have had the pleasure of meeting. They are caring officers from various disciplines within the criminal justice field. They protect and serve all while dealing with GID and the emotional toll that it takes upon their families and themselves. I have the utmost respect for them. They are my heroes!
You can find TCOPS at www.TCOPS.org and our discussion group at [email protected].
