Las Vegas police captain is the only female in charge of a command station

One case from her 21-year career still brings police Capt. Roxanne McDaris to tears.

In 1998, McDaris was assigned to a case involving a 5-year-old girl who was kidnapped and sexually assaulted. Despite having a witness, the girl’s assailant was not immediately found.

“I remember it affected me because I went home and looked at my daughter, who was around the same age,” she said.

Twelve years later, McDaris saw the same girl featured on the local news, revisiting the place where the man had taken her. Police found the suspect in that same location.

“It was just an amazing end result for such a horrific crime,” she said while pushing back tears inside her office at the Enterprise Area Command station, 6975 W. Windmill Lane.

McDaris, 47, is the only female captain of a command station. Until October, she was the only female captain in the Metropolitan Police Department. McDaris likes to say that she’s one of the “girliest” officers. Her office is decorated with candles, a broomstick, a patterned rug, a pen pouch that reads “girl boss” and photos of her family and loved ones. Sitting on her desktop is a crown, which she said the staff put there when she was promoted to captain. They jokingly called her “the Queen of Metro”.

About 9 percent of Metro police officers are female.

“I have other female officers that come to me and ask to be mentored and ask how to get to where I am,” McDaris said. “It’s humbling to me because I never expected to be in this position.”

Prior to entering law enforcement, McDaris wanted to be a psychologist.

As a California State University, Long Beach student, McDaris worked with disadvantaged youths who had negative perceptions of law enforcement and came from violent, broken homes.

“I saw that, and it really broke my heart that these teenagers felt like they had no place to go. So, I wanted to change that and to get involved with them before they got to the point of needing a counselor or psychologist,” McDaris said.

McDaris oversees 178 officers and staff members.

She said the most challenging part about her career is balancing work and home. McDaris was a single mother for most of her career. She struggled with the varying work shifts and safety concerns involved with work.

“I think probably society as a whole expects more from moms than dads, and I don’t know if that is fair,” McDaris said. “I think it’s changing, but I think moms are still expected to be 100 percent in everything.” Today, McDaris is a grandmother of two little girls who she said she loves to spoil. In her spare time, McDaris enjoys hosting family dinners and baking.

McDaris often leads a women’s group, discussing hardships she’s been through and offers advice. She also serves as a mentor for Hope for Prisoners, a re-entry program that helps convicts get acclimated to society and encourages them to stay away from crime.

Hope for Prisoners founder Jon Ponder said these discussions — often ending with tears — have the power to transform the negative opinions “hardened criminals” have of law enforcement.

A recent program graduate who spent 14 years in prison avoided coming to the sessions for months after she learned police officers were among the mentors. The woman wouldn’t let her kids ask police officers for help.

“This girl was a person who hated the police and didn’t want nothing to do with them,” Ponder said. “She came back the next time and she brought Capt. McDaris flowers. It was really incredible.”

After serving an eight-month sentence for a felony, participant Melissa Traylor said the program and McDaris helped restore her confidence.

“She made all the women stand up and told us that we were beautiful,” Traylor said. “She spoke to us as humans.”

McDaris said that, after being an officer for 21 years, it’s hard to trust people. It helps her to be involved in projects such as Hope for Prisoners or Women of Metro — a group that focuses on charity efforts — to continue seeing the good in people.

Visit hopeforprisoners.org.

To reach View intern reporter Rocio Hernandez email rhernandez@viewnews.com or call 702-387-5233. Find her on Twitter: @rociohzz.