LYNCHBURG, Va. – Officer Montez Johnson grew up on 16th Street, the inner city of Lynchburg.
Johnson says where he's from, many kids have opportunities that sometimes don't come in the right packages.
"So me being in this police uniform, I have a story and they do as well. I want them to be acknowledged through that,” Montez said.
Lynchburg City Police have been working on diversifying the men and women they have on the streets.
“[What] command staff had wanted to do was we had talked about making our workforce more diversified, bringing in more talented young individuals. I think a lot of the efforts we have taken on have really paid off. We are slowly seeing an increase,” Lt. Tony Crews said.
In one year, 21 officers came through the academy. Ten were minorities, and Montez was one of the recent graduates.
"The police department should be diverse, hospitals should be diverse, every place that deals with people should represent the community. It shouldn't be all this, all that. I joined the police department to be a part of the mixture,” Montez said.
Montez says playing basketball and having the right mentors kept him on track. He encourages others in leadership roles to do the same.
"So it's important that people stay active in the community. And it's important not to just turn a blind eye. But get your hands dirty and get busy. I think that's the key to keeping people out of trouble,” Montez said.