BALTIMORE - In recent events, police officers here and elsewhere have been under more scrutiny and frequently criticized.
Staff Sgt. Verlillian Githara, a food service specialist with the Maryland Army National Guard's 104th Area Support Medical Company, is no different because she has also been a Baltimore City Police Officer for the past 10 years.
Both jobs couldn't be more different.
"You're going to jail!" yelled a 5-foot, 2-inch-tall Githara while in pursuit of perpetrators.
The relationship between a cop and suspect is an unusual one. Judgments are formed in an instant and then action takes place. It's easy to stereotype someone without knowing who the person underneath really is or where they came from.
Githara may be doing well now, but life hasn't always been easy. Her life could have turned out differently had she taken a different path. Only few people know her turbulent life story.
"Things happen and then you move on," Githara said. "If you don't move on, you end up like the people I see living on the street. And I refuse to be that way."
Githara, born in Texas, wasn't raised in a stable household with great role models. A relative molested her when she was nine. Her mother was unable to care for her so she was sent to live with her godparents, also in Texas.
It was then that she officially became a foster child. She stayed there until moving to Maryland to spend the summer with a cousin. The stay lasted four years and during that time she was molested again.
"How does that even happen?" Githara asks.
No matter what happened or where she was, it seemed like there was always someone there to help. If there was something she needed, like a place to stay, it was provided.
"Even in the foster home, molestation and drug issues, I never felt like I was without," she said.
Through tough times, she said her faith is what kept her going.
"It's inconceivable how so many people came into my life to pick me up," she said. "I never fell. There are so many random people out there, angels, who don't know how awesome they were."
Help came from the least expected places. Even the people who were abusing their own kids were the ones who came to her rescue and provided safety.
Just before her foster mom was preparing to adopt her, Githara's mother wanted her daughter back. Somehow, Githara managed to get out of the foster care system and move back with her mother.
Githara joins the Maryland National Guard
Githara's original plan was to join the active-duty Army right out of high school, but her mother, Jean wanted her to focus on an education. Githara weighed her options and ended up joining the Guard so she could do both. She attended Coppin State University. Joining the Guard was a way to allow her to do both. That was 14 years and two deployments ago.
In her Guard family, there are few people in her trusted circle whom she considers very close confidants.
"Although she's a very quiet and concealed person, she's very caring," said Capt. Elise Dent, 104th ASMC executive officer. "We have a very close, personal officer-noncommissioned officer relationship. I know the conversations we have will stay confidential."
According to Dent, Githara is the type of person who will help someone out, but you'd have to be the first to approach her.
With her team, Githara has a straightforward, hands-on leadership style. She pushes them to do their best and be able to shine.
"This is my kitchen and we need to get the job done," she said. "I'm doing this with you, and we'll get through it together."
Githara tells her Soldiers to be open. "In order for you learn and grow, you have to be receiving of me giving you instruction," she said, "and I'm here to learn from you as well."
She admits to being "somewhat closed off personally," but it's something she's working on. It's a self-preservation mechanism.
Presentation is important to her
"Let's pretty it up. Garnish it and put it in a different container," Githara said about how she prepares her food. "I want it to look good, as best as it can, and I want it to taste good."
It's essential for her to provide some type of happiness to Soldiers when they're out in the field and away from home.
"She pays attention to detail and she makes sure we have enough food," said Pfc. Kristina Benedict, a healthcare specialist and combat medic with the 104th ASMC. "If something doesn't taste right or look right, she's not serving it."
Decision to join the police department
In addition to having a strong sense of right and wrong, her decision to be a police officer was influenced by her godfather, who appropriately went by the name Judge.
"He was sheriff of the town and I wanted to be like him," she said.
At age 21, her career with the Baltimore City Police Department began. It was a fast track to becoming a police officer; applying on Monday, testing done by Friday and hired that Saturday. She started out working in patrol for the first two years.
"I was 'Officer Friendly,'" she said. "I would visit with the elderly and try to solve their problems." Things changed when the drug unit took her. "It was fun and I loved the adrenaline rush."
It was there where Officer Verlillian Allgood, her name at the time, met her husband, Officer George Githara. They had been assigned partners for two years before dating. She became pregnant and then transitioned inside to work in the drug deployment unit.
They've been married three years now and have a blended family with three children - each entered the relationship with a child of their own, plus one together. Her mother Jean, who is in poor health, is also member of the Githara household.
World Beauty Fitness and Fashion competition
In addition to responsibilities as a full-time police officer, a Guard member, a caregiver, mother, and student, she is training for a bodybuilding competition. She will compete in the figure category for the World Beauty Fitness and Fashion competition this month. She is working hard to earn her personal training degree at Bryan University and to attain a pro card, which will lead to her dream of becoming a sponsored competitor.
"I want to bring my best to the stage," she said.
Githara started training in 2013, during her deployment to Afghanistan. Her schedule is demanding, yet she manages to train with Team Elite, based out of Alabama.
"What's really big to me is I like the way she involves her family in everything she does," said Greg Hasberry, Githara's trainer and owner of Alabama Elite Fitness and Figure. "She has a supportive husband and well-rounded kids. It's pretty neat that they get a chance to watch their mom attain a personal goal."
Her husband George drives the whole family to Alabama for her to train with Hasberry and takes care of the kids while she's training. She will have traveled there for a total of five extremely rigorous three-day training sessions leading up to the competition.
"My family is very supportive," Githara said. "They are all on board."
The family goes to the gym together, and she and her children do homework together. Githara didn't have an ideal childhood and could have been a victim of adversity. Instead, she chose to live life on her terms. She is an example of someone living a resilient life.
"It's all good," she says.