Denean Ragland is an administrative assistant to the Gardendale Police Department. Some parts of her job are routine, such as distributing mail, checking messages, entering citations into the department’s new software and handling purchase orders. Other than that, she says her days can throw her curveballs.

“I like that it changes pretty much every day. There’s a lot of different aspects of a lot of different jobs on one desk,” she said. “I’ve always liked learning.”

Working in a law enforcement agency has been an eye-opening experience for Ragland.

“Law enforcement is pretty interesting…  You learn a lot. You learn things you just never thought about, like the terminology,” she said.

Another thing Ragland has learned is that a police department stays busy, and that staying on top of the workload can be challenging. She has spent many lunch breaks eating at her desk.

“The officers do a lot that isn’t seen on the outside. We work eight to five every day, and they’re still here when you leave,” she said. “The police are pretty cool to work with. You see a lot of dedication.”

Despite the curveballs, consistency is what attracted her to the job in the first place. She used to work in the city’s business license department; the workload tended to be very heavy near the beginning of the year and quiet the rest of the year.

Ragland is fairly new to the position, and she’ll have been in her job for a year in August. She replaced Vicki Dill, who retired after over 30 years with the department.

In her spare time, Ragland likes photography and traveling.