“Every person has a story. Every story deserves to be heard.”
Leila Silva was born and raised in the Amazon rainforest of Suriname. After a stint as a military police officer there, and a brief, eye-opening trip to Rio de Janeiro, Leila swapped her jungle camouflage for a city cop uniform. Balancing the demands of the job with raising her two young children as a single mother has not been easy, but Leila draws strength from her time spent playing music with her family and teaching her children traditional dances from their ancestral land.
I wanted to make a difference in my community and help protect people from harm.
I am proud of the times when I have successfully mediated conflicts and prevented violence from escalating.