In 1984, Lillie Leonardi entered the law enforcement profession as the first female patrol officer on a police department located north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While training at the police academy, Lillie was the only female cadet among her male counterparts. During her tenure as an officer, she specialized in youth violence prevention and intervention, and investigations of crimes against children.

Lillie later joined the ranks of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and served with the Pittsburgh Division as its community affairs coordinator. She distinguished herself as a 9/11 responder at the Flight 93 crash site, serving as primary liaison to the United Airlines Humanitarian Response Team and surviving family members.

After serving for 25 years in the law enforcement profession, Lillie retired to pursue her lifelong passion for writing. She is a twice traditionally published author with Hay House: In The Shadow Of A Badge and The White Light Of Grace, and released her debut fiction novel The Blue Witch: Within in 2021.

In this episode, Lillie shares about her life experiences in the law enforcement profession, her diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the impact on family members and healing.

www.passagesandprose.com/pages/author-lillie-leonardi

The Resilient Minds podcast is sponsored by Passages & Prose, LLC.

It is produced by: Lillie Leonardi and Chris Sichi.

Music: Ocean Breeze by Ketsa