San Antonio, Texas Jan 5, 2022 (Issuewire.com) - Social media has changed the way people communicate and express themselves around the world. Billions around the planet have made social media a daily part of their lives and never before has the world felt smaller. Whether it’s posting food pics or expressing political ideas, social media brings like-minded individuals together.
That is of course unless you’re in law enforcement where the public will scrutinize every action you do and say as they do on the streets or in the court of law. Social media is a delicate balance for law enforcement and uninhibited first amendment expression is a part of life that law enforcement, unfortunately, has to give up.
This will be a series of articles focusing on the new face of women in law enforcement in the social media age and the story I heard from Stephanie “stefisaurus_flex” was one I never saw coming.
Stephanie is a United States Air Force Security Police veteran, and now Texas Law Enforcement Officer. Her Instagram page is a mix of law enforcement, military, cosplay, modeling, hunting, gaming, and Texas pride. It’s an eclectic mix and that in many ways reflects the eclectic life she has lived.
Stephanie first encountered law enforcement as a young child under extremely negative circumstances. Stephanie’s mother moved to Central Texas with her at the age of 4 years old in an effort to begin a better life. For the next several years her mother took various temporary jobs that were just enough to put food on the table and a roof over their head.
After a time that included being homeless, they were staying with family members and friends until they were able to stand on their own. Unlike her father, Stephanie’s mother did her absolute best to provide for the both of them and managed to afford a small apartment providing the first stable environment for the both of them. Not long after Stephanie’s mom married and took a federal position where she would rise to a top-level supervisory position defying all of the odds set against her. Unfortunately, this was not the happy ending to Stephanie’s story.
At the age of 19, Stephanie was working as a waitress and promotional model for a local San Antonio Hooters when she met the man she would later marry. This man was a medic in the United States Air Force. They seemed to fall in love very quickly and married young, but as the saying goes “love is blind.” The marriage was not what she expected. She had started secretly packing bags of her things and hiding them where she knew her husband would not find them. Just like her mother had done years before her, Stephanie ran.
During the course of her marriage, Stephanie had been in the DEP program with the local Air Force recruiter. Upon realizing that she had no knowledge of how to protect herself from her military husband she called her recruiter for help. Upon hearing the severity of the situation her recruiter contacted her husband’s leadership and afforded Stephanie the opportunity for escape. A few days later he had pulled some strings in the recruitment line and managed a “quick ship” contract that would immediately ship Stephanie to JBSA Lackland for basic military training. Stephanie left her old life in the rear view mirror and began anew within the United States Air Force.
Coming from the environment Stephanie grew up in she longed to help others escape the kind of situations she found herself in. To serve her community and see justice served. She requested a security forces assignment in the Air Force and became a military police officer. She traveled the world while enforcing the laws of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and keeping her military community and their families safe. Some of her duties included Gate duty, Nuclear Security, dispatching, and Law Enforcement patrols. Stephanie went on to crush milestones such as sewing on rank 6 months early with the Airman Below the zone program and achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant within 4 years of service.
The combination of Stephanie’s girl next door good looks combined with her fun and playful personality lit the internet up in the military and law enforcement
Social media has changed the way people communicate and express themselves around the world. Billions around the planet have made social media a daily part of their lives and never before has the world felt smaller. Whether it’s posting food pics or expressing political ideas, social media brings like-minded individuals together. That is of course unless you’re in law enforcement where the public will scrutinize every action you do and say as they do on the streets or in the court of law. Social media is a delicate balance for law enforcement and uninhibited first amendment expression is a part of life that law enforcement, unfortunately, has to give up. This is not an article about that debate but rather the changing face of what the public considers the “typical” law enforcement officer. In many ways, the women of law enforcement are at the forefront of changing perceptions about the typical law enforcement officer. From comedy, fitness, modeling, tactical and political pages, female officers are bringing a variety of content to social media and giving insight into the personal lives of officers in a way the public has never seen before. This will be a series of articles focusing on the new face of women in law enforcement in the social media age and the story I heard from Stephanie “@stefisaurus_flex” was one I never saw coming.
Stephanie is a United States Air Force Security Police veteran, and now Texas Law Enforcement Officer. Her Instagram page is a mix of law enforcement, military, cosplay, modeling, hunting, gaming, and Texas pride. It’s an eclectic mix and that in many ways reflects the eclectic life she has lived. Stephanie first encountered law enforcement as a young child under extremely negative circumstances. Stephanie’s mother moved to Central Texas with her at the age of 4 years old in an effort to begin a better life. For the next several years her mother took various temporary jobs that were just enough to put food on the table and a roof over their head. This time included being homeless and staying with family members and friends until they were able to stand on their own. Unlike her father, Stephanie’s mother had never had any dealings with drugs even when surrounded by them. Stephanie’s mother did her absolute best to provide for the both of them and managed to afford a small apartment providing the first stable environment for the both of them. Not long after Stephanie’s mom married and took a federal position where she would rise to a top-level supervisory position defying all of the odds set against her. Unfortunately, this was not the happy ending to Stephanie’s story.
At the age of 19, Stephanie was working as a waitress and promotional model for a local San Antonio Hooters when she met the man she would later marry. This man was a medic in the United States Air Force. They seemed to fall in love very quickly and married young, but as the saying goes “love is blind.” This man would later reveal himself as an angry, jealous, abusive, and controlling husband. At first, the abuse came in small doses of ill-timed remarks, yelling, and would later escalate physically. She had started secretly packing bags of her things and hiding them where she knew her husband would not find them. Just like her mother had done years before her, Stephanie ran.
The combination of Stephanie’s girl next door good looks combined with her fun and playful personality lit the internet up in the military and law enforcement social media world. With her newfound internet “fame” Stephanie realized she had a way to connect with like-minded people around the world while being so far from home. She began to do other posts about military life and her audience continued to grow and grow. Unfortunately, so did the backlash from her colleagues. Stephanie was told that she had a constant craving for attention, put her unit in the spotlight in a negative way, and was a disgrace to the uniform.
She was picked up by a local sheriff’s department and has spent the last year transferring over her military police credits and taking new courses for her Texas Peace Officer certification. Social media allows her to stay in contact with her followers around the world and now that she’s back home she has added content that shows her day-to-day life around a Texas ranch and her new hobby of streaming games online and cosplay. Her new department embraces her online persona and the positive image Stephanie represents to the community and connecting with them. A browse of her Instagram would never reveal the true struggles she has endured since childhood and why she has chosen the life of service and honor to our country. Stephanie represents the best of us in law enforcement and her Instagram page is an inspiration to women and men around the world. I’m proud to call Stephanie my sister in blue and after interviewing her I’m thankful for the stories she shared that made her the inspirational woman she is today. A picture is worth a thousand words but her Instagram pictures don’t tell half of it!
Social Media:
Instagram: @Stefisaurus_Flex
www.instagram.com/stefisaurus_flex
Twitch: @StefisaurusFlex
www.Twitch.tv/stefisaurusflex/profile
Tiktok: @StefisaurusFlex
https://www.tiktok.com/@stefisaurusflex?lang=en
Twitter: @StefisaurusFlex
www.twiiter.com/stefisaurusflex
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