Captain Glorisel Lee is breaking barriers as the first woman and first Latina to command the 123rd Precinct on Staten Island. 

Both of Lee's parents migrated from the Dominican Republic in the 1970s and met in New York City. She was born in Brooklyn.

"I am representing my family, my culture, just like you said, the community, and when I started having other female officers telling me, ‘Wow I'm so happy for you, you did it. How are you doing it? How can I do it?’ And that's when I really noticed that it was, it was way bigger than me,” Lee said.

Lee’s career came about unexpectedly, studying accounting until 9/11, when she explains she felt the need to do something for her city and her country.

“First thing I did was tell my mom, I said, ‘That's it, I'm joining the police department. I'm going to be a detective. I need to investigate this.’ She kind of laughed at me, and then she said, ‘Go for it,'" she recalled.

And go for it she did, after nearly two decades working her way up from precinct to precinct in Bay Ridge, Manhattan South and Chelsea.

“I felt like joining the police department was the best way to be part of not just the solution, but building a legacy of helping people,” she said.

She says she counts on her husband, as well as their four girls  — ages 26, 12, and 10-year-old twins — for their support, having to balance life as a mother and, since May of this year, as a commanding officer. 

“I have an older daughter that has graduated from college already, and she’s always said just watching me continue to work helped her continue to work hard. And my other girls are just so proud. One of them wants to be a police officer too,” she said.

She leads a team of about 100 members of law enforcement, trying to keep the South Shore of Staten Island safe, but knows it´s also important to bring residents of Tottenville, Huguenot, Rossville, Annadale and Eltingville together.

“Everybody always remembers the first grade teacher that was great to them and helped them pass, or if you ever did have a good interaction with a police officer, you remembered that moment,” she said. “You may not remember their name or anything like that, but you remember that interaction, and I kind of wanted to be that for someone.”

As a Latina leader who followed her own need to find solutions for her community, Lee says she hopes to inspire others to serve and to find passion in whatever they choose to do.