When Mary Broadway, criminal investigator for the Searcy Police Department, began her first job after high school as a dispatcher with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, she didn’t realize she was taking her first step in a long career in law enforcement that would lead her to being part of the first Crimes Against Women Unit in White County.
“I have been a law enforcement officer for nine years,” Broadway said. “I’ve been in law enforcement since May of 2000. I started in the jail, so it’s been going on 17 years.”
Broadway began working as a dispatcher in her hometown of Marianna. After moving with her family to Searcy, she entered cosmetology school. After working in that field for nearly a year, Broadway realized she wanted to take her career in a very different direction.
“I thought about it, and I knew I had this background in dispatching, so I applied for a dispatching position at the [White County] Sheriff’s Office,” Broadway said. “I went and applied there, and they called me and said they didn’t have a dispatcher position open, but they did have this jailer’s position open. I thought, ‘OK, I’ll try this.’ Never in my wildest dreams on that day did I think that job would lead me to where I am today.”
Working as a jailer, Broadway continued her journey in law enforcement. When a position came open in the clerical department as a warrant officer, she moved into a new role.
“I would enter warrants, and when people would come into jail on the warrant, I would go in the jail and serve them the warrants,” Broadway said. “I did that for about five or six years. Then we got a new sheriff.”
When Ricky Shroud was elected the sheriff of White County in 2006, Broadway’s life changed forever.
“When he came in to the new jail, we had to do questionnaires that were basically so he could get to know who we were and what our goals were,” Broadway said. “My goal, I remember writing on mine, was that I didn’t plan to sit at this desk and enter warrants my whole life. I wanted to do more, and I wanted to help people. That’s what I told him. Shortly after that, he called me into his office.”
Shroud was getting ready to introduce the county’s first Crimes Against Women Unit. He encouraged Broadway to go to the police academy.
“I had to go to the police academy in Pocahontas,” Broadway said. “That is three-month training. We were there all week, and we got to come home on Fridays after our test. If you fail the test, you’re done, no matter what week it is. My kids were younger then, so it was pretty hard being away from them. I graduated from the police academy and got my certification.”
Broadway went directly into the domestic-violence unit.
“All we worked at that time were crimes against women, but in the county, we had a lot of crimes against children, too. In the beginning, all we worked were just the women’s cases — anything involving women, whether it was sexual abuse or domestic. Then it transitioned over into cases with children. That was the hardest thing for me to do because I have children, and there are terrible things that happen to children out here. It was not something that I ever thought I would be doing.”
Once the unit also began to investigate cases involving children, Broadway realized that being a mother helped her work those cases.
“I feel like it does help me with the No. 1 thing — being able to talk to children,” Broadway said. “It gives me the compassion in dealing with those situations. I know how I would want somebody to talk to my children. I think that helps me out a lot.”
Broadway worked for the Sheriff’s Office for 12 years before leaving to work tobacco control for six months.
“The reason I left that was because working so many years with domestic violence, children’s deaths and sexual abuse, after a while, it starts to wear on you, and I felt like I needed to remove myself from it for a few minutes just to get myself balanced,” Broadway said.
After her time at tobacco control, Broadway began working with the Searcy Police Department.
“It turned out to be the same job I had been doing at the sheriff’s department. I’ve been here — in July, it will be five years.
“What I enjoy most is being able to help people. I know I won’t be able to help everybody, but knowing that I have the opportunity to be able to make a difference, even if it’s just with one person, then I can be that voice for someone,” Broadway said. “Our main thing is domestic violence, but we also deal with a lot of sexual abuse of children. A lot of times, they don’t have a voice. That’s what keeps me going every day. If I don’t keep going, someone may not get the help they need, or have a voice.”
Broadway said letting victims know help is out there for them is important to her.
“The first thing I want women to know is that it’s not their fault. A lot of women think the reason they are being abused is because it’s their fault or something they did. It’s not your fault,” she said.
“The second thing is that there is help available. There’s not always been a lot of help available in the past, but now there is a lot of help,” Broadway said. “There are a lot of avenues now. The third thing is, reach out to law enforcement. We are trained to help. Even our patrol officers are trained to recognize it. They are trained on how to respond to it. Just reach out.
“I want people to know, and not just women. We have male victims, too. I want them to understand that abuse is not a normal way of living. If I can help someone have the courage, because it takes courage, to get out of that situation or transition from that situation, that’s what I want most.”
While her line of work is tough mentally, Broadway said, the people who work with her make her job easier.
“The best thing about my job is the people I work with. Everybody helps everybody. We are a family here. I just really enjoy the family atmosphere here at the Police Department,” Broadway said.
“I got to know [Mary] a little bit when I worked at the county,” said Terri Lee, public information officer for the Searcy Police Department.
“When she came here, she just jumped right in. She knew exactly what she was doing. She never, ever hesitates to go out on a call. I know when we were doing the Malik [Drummond] case, it meant a lot to us that she helped. That wasn’t her case, but she was very involved,” Lee said.
“When we went to the landfill and dug through 750 tons of trash, she was one of the first to volunteer. She said she was going to go, too. That says and speaks a lot about someone’s character. She is always encouraging. She has a great sense of humor and keeps people uplifted, and that’s something in this profession that you really need. There’s a whole lot of negative, and with people like her, she kind of reminds you every day that there are good people,” Lee said.
“I love what I do,” Broadway said. “I love being able to help people. I get that from my mom. I feel like that is what we are here for. We are here to help each other.”