By Chelsea Vance | The Selma Times-Journal

The Selma Police Department recently welcomed its newest member to the force.

Reid Hendershot graduated from the 14-week police academy at The Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center on Dec. 21, taking big step toward making his dreams a reality.

Hendershot has wanted to be a police officer for the past three years and started thinking about the career after moving to Selma from Seattle, Washington two years ago. The 30-year-old moved to Dallas County to be closer to family.

He has been with the Selma Police Department since late July 2015. He said the job is a challenge, but that is exactly one of the things that he likes about it.

“I like helping out the community and being challenged and pushed,” Hendershot said. “My favorite thing is being able to interact with all different kinds of people from different walks of life, different stories and different experiences.”

He said that the job is spontaneous and he can never tell what kind of day that he will have.

“Sometimes it’s like this is really good and then sometimes it’s pretty bad,” Hendershot said.

The young officer believes he has found a career and considers the Selma Police Department a great place to be.

“There is a lot of field experience and a lot of intellect in dealing with different situations,” Hendershot said. “I feel grateful for the opportunity to be here because I am learning from people who have a lot of expertise in what they do.”

Tory Neely is day shift patrol supervisor of SPD as well as Hendershot`s training officer. He is responsible for teaching him the ropes and works closely with him each day.

Since Hendershot’s arrival and academy graduation, Neely said that he has seen great progress from him.

“Originally, when he first started he was kind of hesitant. Since we’ve been out there on the street and got involved with some serious action, I think it has kind of opened his eyes up to law enforcement,” Neely said.

Neely believes Hendershot fits in and makes a fine addition to the force.