Blazing a Trail on the Beat

Sonya Jamil, Chaldean female law enforcement officer

By Cal Abbo

Sonya Jamil was born just outside Baghdad, but her family moved here when she was very young – she can’t remember anything before the States. If she had grown up in the Middle East, her life would be very different, and she certainly wouldn’t have been the first Chaldean woman to become a law enforcement officer for Macomb County.

Jamil didn’t always want to pursue law enforcement. “Everyone was confused when I went into law enforcement,” she said. “Usually it’s doctor or lawyer, especially for a girl.”

Jamil actually sided with this view for a large portion of her childhood and teenage years. “I wanted to be a defense attorney because I wanted to understand why people do what they do,” she said.

After she learned more about the profession and the criminal mind, she came to believe that the reason why someone commits a violent crime is a lot different from reasoning for other crimes. This, she believed, often stems from mental health issues.

This new perspective meant she needed to change her approach. In order to really get into the criminal aspect and understand it from the perspective of mental illness, which is what she really wanted to do, she needed to go into law enforcement.

One day, her class at Macomb Community College went on break and her teacher, Professor Sherwood, told her to apply to be a corrections officer at the local jail. “She told me they need more women there,” Jamil said.

After that day, at just 21 years old, even before she got her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, Jamil passed a simple physical test and got the job. Finally, she had a way to get close to the criminal aspect and really interact with those locked in jail to see into their mindset.

Her work only confirmed her suspicions that mental health played a major role in the criminal system. Almost all of the people in her jail, she said, suffer from some sort of mental health issue. Some of them have outright schizophrenia while others must deal with addiction, bipolar disorder, or blackouts, just to name a few. Jamil notes the recent closure of mental health facilities across Michigan that used to house people with these particular issues.

In more than one instance, Jamil was attacked by an inmate. One of these instances happened when the inmates were not locked in their cells. Jamil describes being pushed aggressively by an inmate who was relatively new. “Right away, about 10 other inmates jumped on my attacker,” she said. “It’s all about respect.”

This story gives some insight into the operation of a jail and the relationship between an inmate and a corrections officer. While it may seem like a hostile environment from the outside, where officers are pitted against inmates, most tend to work together on a basis of mutual respect.

Jamil described a lot of the inmates she supervises as being from Detroit and involved in gang culture. “Many of them try and commit a crime in Warren but get caught, so they end up in the Macomb County Jail,” she said.

She compared the situation in her jail to the one her inmates face in gang culture. “In Detroit, where a lot of these guys are from, they really value loyalty and respect,” she said. “As a woman, it can be hard to earn that at first, but you have to stand up for yourself.”

Despite this process, Jamil faced a much more serious attack from an inmate when there was less immediate help around. She and her partner served him a writeup for some kind of bad behavior. The inmate, however, was not in a good mood. He took the writeup, ripped it apart, and threw it on the floor. Then, he punched Jamil square in the face.

Her partner immediately came to her rescue, but after slipping on the ripped writeup, was taken to ground by the inmate. Jamil used her radio to call for backup, but the fight lasted 30 seconds before what she describes as “nearly half the jail” came to her and her partner’s rescue.

These violent instances didn’t deter Jamil from her work. She still contributes at the jail and plays an important role connecting with inmates and maintaining security at the institution.

As a woman who is right around five feet tall, how does Jamil maintain the confidence and poise to deal with potentially dangerous people every day? According to her, it goes back to her mother and sisters, who gave her positive examples of strong-willed women.

“My mom is the rule-maker,” Jamil said, referring to the dynamics in her family. “Because of my mom, I have a strong personality. I know what I want and I’ll go for what I want. I won’t have anyone do it for me.”

Jamil’s mother has a long and successful career of her own, working as a chef for Marriot Hotels. This example gave Jamil and her older sisters all they needed to break the glass ceiling and become independent women. “Nobody can say, ‘you wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for me,’” Jamil added.

Her father, on the other hand, is “the sweetest person ever.” If she takes strong-mindedness from her mother, she takes soft-spokenness from her father. “You can go to him for anything,” she said. “But he’ll never tell you when you’re wrong.” In this way, her parents balance one another perfectly.

One of her sisters, who has a successful career as a Physician’s Assistant, made a point to keep her last name after she got married. Her husband respected the decision because she did the education herself and deserved to have her own name on her white coat, Jamil said.

Her other sister, whom she looks up to, offered her an example of what it’s like to build a family. “She gave me the most amazing nieces and nephews,” Jamil said. She enjoys visiting them and wants to have a family of her own some day.

Jamil has dreams beyond the jail and even beyond law enforcement. Some of her supervisors want her to become a street officer, but Jamil doesn’t like to drive. She has other plans, however. Her sister wants to own a bakery, and Jamil wants to own a bar. So, to be efficient, she and her sister will develop a space that functions as a bakery by day and a bar by night.

She also wants to begin investing in real estate. Although she doesn’t know a lot, her brother is starting a career in commercial real estate, and they have plans to go into business together. Just as well, she may end up with a career in the field of law.

No matter what path she chooses to follow, Jamil has already achieved success as the first Chaldean woman to become a law enforcement officer in Macomb County.