Fort Collins Sherriff Department

Lieutenant Rachel Esters opens up

about transition
Fort Collins Colo. In May 2014 Lieutenant Esters came out, and by August of that
same year, he began his transition to becoming a woman. Rachel Esters is the only
African American transgender lieutenant in the state of Colorado.
When she first came out, she sat down every one of her sergeants individually and told
them.
Those were really hard conversations to have. Its new but its becoming less new
because people are getting used to it, says Esters.
Lieutenant Esters is in no way defined by being transgendered. In addition to being a jail
lieutenant for the Fort Collins Sherriffs department, she is a 14 -year air force and army
veteran.

I was in the military from 1978 to 1982, in the air

force. I dropped out of high school and joined the air
force when I was 17 years old. For me my career
hasnt been about education, it has been about drive,
she says.
While in the air force, Esters spent her first two years as
a security police officer at a weapons storage unit
guarding nukes just outside of Las Vegas.
I really guarded things like nuclear weapons and
things like that, and so that meant that I had a M16,
and I stood out in the middle of nowhere a lot of times.

Esters second (and last) two years in the air force, she
spent in presidential aircraft, where she flew around in
a command aircraft that trailed the president wherever he went.

I had Carter and I had Reagan. So I spent a lot of time at

Andrews air force base in Washington and also in California when
Reagan was there because he was a big California guy, says
Esters.
Esters then enlisted in the army for 10 years until 1992.
For the following 5 years, Esters was a national guard.
After those 5 years Esters worked in community
corrections for a year, and then started at the Fort Collins
Sheriffs Department where she has now worked for 21
years.
I started here as a deputy working in pods in the jail and
did that for about 3 years, was promoted as corporal and
then sergeant, was a sergeant for 13 years and about four
years ago I was promoted to lieutenant, Esters said.
Lieutenant Esters has taught self-defense classes for18 of
the 21 years she has been at the department.
I teach cops how to defend themselves. I teach them
how to arrest people and put them in handcuffs. I teach
them how to survive if theyre taken to the ground; all
those kinds of skills. I also do tactics training which is more weapons training, she says.
Esters has also implemented and published an article on a program called the Two
Norths Transition Project. The program refers to the two north areas, which is the
departments high security area.

Its where people go when we are

concerned about their security because
of charges or theyre acting out and
dangerous. Its jail inside a jail, she
says.
In that area of the jail the police were
always taught to operate in a strict
manner. If the inmates messed up the
deputies just got stricter.
We reached a point where inmates
were going off, yelling, screaming,
flooding toilets, throwing poop and
fighting, Esters says.
Every time the inmates would act out he
police would give them more time in
their cell and less privileges, and it
wasnt working. One-day Esters boss
was asking her what they should do and
Esters said it was time for them to
change their methods.
One of the things that I did, is I allowed
the inmates to have ear buds so they
could listen to radio and TV.
Automatically you could see behavior changes.
It is clear that Esters has been more than just successful in her career. Through hard
work and determination she has accomplished more most do in their lifetime. When
asked what direction she wanted this story to go in she replied:

I would consider the combination. Ive been super successful

through a lot of hard work and no loss of ego, and doing it as a
transgendered person is significant.
Lieutenant Esters is an icon for those who feel different, or as if they cant be who they
really are of accomplish what they want because they feel that they are different than
others. Esters put it best when she said:
Transgendered people are just as diverse as anyone else. I mean we serve our country,
we pay our taxes, we make contributions to society and I think that is important, she
says.

Relevant Links
Two Norths Transition Project Article: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?
id=204477366&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=afBf&locale=en_US&trk

=tyah&trkInfo=idx%3A1-1-1%2CtarId%3A1425932900718%2Ctas
%3Arachel+esters
Lieunenant Rachel Esters Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/airborne10/pins/
Infographic on Transgender: http://infographiclist.com/tag/transgender/