Former St. Cloud State University student-athlete Talisha Barlow was recently sworn in as a first-in-her-field police officer.
Barlow, a women’s basketball standout from 2007-2011, is the first black female officer on the St. Cloud Police force. Coach Lori Fish pinned Barlow’s newly minted police badge on her during the police department’s swearing-in ceremony. A four-year starter, Barlow led the Huskies in scoring her junior and senior seasons, played in 112 straight games (every game of her collegiate career) and started in 103 straight games. She was a two-time All-Conference selection and three-time Academic All-Conference team member.
About 40 percent of the St. Cloud’s police force are St. Cloud State University graduates.
Kadra Mohamed ’14 also has made an impact as a recently appointed police officer with the St. Paul Police Department. She is the first Somali-American woman to join the department.
Her work with the St. Paul Police Department, which recently approved an option for employees to wear a police-issued hijab, will carve the way for more opportunities for women of Somali descent in the police force.
“I want to be a good role model for others, especially Somali women,” Mohamed said in an interview with the Star Tribune.
