KATY, Texas -- One Katy ISD police officer is proving you should never judge a person by his or her uniform.
Students and parents at Katy ISD recognize Officer Shannon Dresser. She’s been with the force for almost two years, and you could say her blood runs blue.
“My mother and father are retired LAPD police sergeants, and my stepdad is a Santa Monica police officer,” Dresser said.
But this weekend, she changed out her police uniform for something a little more elegant, winning the title of Miss Texas United States.
In some ways, it’s life imitating art.
“I always joke around that I’m your Miss Congeniality from that movie,” Dresser said. “My passion has been baton twirling, so it’s pretty fun…It’s kind of fun, It’s like my life was written before I even knew it.”
Dresser is a professional baton twirler, even attending the University of Hawai’i on a full scholarship. She got her master’s degree there and worked as a police officer for a few years before moving to Katy to join her boyfriend, an Army recruiter.
Dresser says her colleagues have been supportive of all of her endeavors.
“Shannon is a very dynamic officer,” said Katy ISD police chief Robert E. Jinks “She's probably one of the most dynamic officers I’ve seen in a long time. She really cares about the kids and (tries) to make their life better.”
The kids Dresser works with are at-risk students at Raines High School. And while she wears the crown with grace, Dresser says her day job is her true passion.
Dresser, who is about to become the district’s second K-9 officer, hopes both her crown and her badge will inspire the students she protects.
She will compete in the Miss United States competition in Orlando in June.