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As a deputy, April Murray hasn't broken down any doors, but she has broken down barriers.

Two years ago Murray was the first woman to become a Webster County sheriff's deputy.

"It was a breakthrough really for the department," Murray said. "I've always believed women can do anything men can do. I'm really stubborn that way."

The chance to "make a difference someway, somehow" appealed to Murray when she began work with the department on the jail floor at 18 years old.

Now Murray's sheer presence could be an inspiration to young girls who rarely see women in positions of public authority.

"It's fun to be out on your lunch break and you hear a group of girls say 'I didn't know females could be cops.' You can see the little wheels in their head turning," Murray said, "which is great because we need more women on the force."

As far as feeling threatened by criminals who are twice her size, Murray said the thought has crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed it.

"The Law Enforcement Academy and Street Survival schools taught us that even though some female officers may be small in size, that doesn't mean they can't handle a physically violent situation as well as male officers," Murray said. "At one of my Street Survival schools a 100-pound female and an almost 300-pound male were shown side by side. We were taught that a person of smaller stature is justified in using a higher level of force to protect themselves."

Since she has a taser and gun at her side, Murray is less worried about being outsized by 200- pound attacker.

"If someone is trying to assault me I can tase or shoot them," Murray said. "I can use the amount of force necessary to keep myself and others safe."

To keep up to date, Murray is working on becoming a self-defense trainer.

"After you go through the academy you brush up yearly on skills, but it's hard to keep up to speed," Murray said. "I'm talking to the guys about being an instructor, and then we could work more at it."

The 24-year-old describes herself as a tomboy who grew up on a farm near Lehigh. Murray began hunting and fishing when she was young hobbies she continues today.

"We were very self-sufficient," Murray said. "We grew our own food and raised our own animals. It was very different from how other people lived. It was sort of a throw back to the 1950s and 1960s, but growing up that way I learned how to work."

Every summer Murray threw hay bales and walked beans. Now, she patrols around fields and cooperatives that may be hot spots.

"I'll just sit and watch the anhydrous tanks if it's a slow night to make sure no one comes by," Murray said.

A year ago she went to check out a suspicious container found north of Otho. When she arrived, the container was not where she had heard it would be, instead in the back of a vehicle.

"I checked it out and it was full of anhydrous," Murray said, "and that guy got to go to jail."

But, normally, evening patrol consists of driving around the towns that pay the sheriff's deputies to be local law enforcement.

"A lot of nights are slow in the county," Murray said, "but we go through all our towns and spend a good amount of time in them. If I have extra time, I like to drive on gravel roads and see if anything is going on."

If nothing much is happening, Murray's mind wonders down a creative path. She enjoys writing and is working on several fictional stories.

"In my mind I keep ideas floating around," Murray said. "I have a story I started on in high school I'm still working on."

With many more years on the force ahead, it's no doubt Murray will have plenty of inspiration.

"Different situations in the field bring in different emotions," Murray said, "and I can build on that and the story in a new direction. I have fun with that, and use those situations to my advantage and use them for something else."

Contact Lindsey Mutchler at (515) 573-2141 or lindsey@messengernews.net.