When Alexandria Pecia told her family she intended to become a police officer, her mother was not thrilled. “Why law enforcement?” she wondered. “Why do you want to get shot at?” This reaction is not unusual. Parents are often concerned when their children decide to enter the emergency services, worrying about the risks and stress associated with the job.
What made this situation a bit different is the fact that Pecia’s mother is Tonya Hoover, former Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator and past superintendent of the National Fire Academy.
“I was nervous,” Hoover admitted. “As a parent you think, they just put my daughter on the road by herself on night shift, wearing a bulletproof vest. But I had to trust her.”
Ultimately, Hoover said, “She did things I would not have been able to do.”
Hoover’s concerns might have been influenced by the fact that her daughter was choosing a law enforcement career versus the fire service. The fire service runs deep in Hoover’s background. Her father was a civil defense director (now known as emergency manager) and volunteer fire chief in Pennsylvania where she grew up.
“My family lived the fire service,” she said. “There was always turnout gear at the foot of my parents’ bed.”
Hoover remembers responding to a wildfire with her father when she was around 11 years old, and she volunteered with the local fire department as a teenager. After completing college at Oklahoma State, she moved to California where she initially worked for a fire protection company before beginning a career as a fire prevention officer for several different fire departments. Then she was recruited to become the assistant state fire marshal of California. Later she was promoted to lead that agency.
It seemed only natural that Hoover’s daughter would follow in the family tradition and pursue a fire service career. She had grown up with the fire service just like her mother had. And in fact, with a master’s degree in communications, Pecia did consider becoming a fire service public information officer and even wrote her master’s thesis on crisis communication related to wildfire. But then at age 28, she made a different decision.
Pecia had moved to North Carolina with her husband, who was in the military. Even though she had by then decided against pursuing a career in the fire service, she was still drawn to public service. In her new home state, she had the opportunity to go through an academy to become a police officer. Pecia spent four years with her first department, first in patrol, and later as department PIO. Then she decided to move to a smaller department closer to home as a dedicated patrol officer. Most recently, she moved to Fairfax County, Virginia, to serve as a patrol officer for that department.
Pecia admits that being a law enforcement officer did not initially seem like her ideal path. “But I like that it’s not the same thing every day,” she said. “I get to use my degree every day. Part of my job is my ability to effectively communicate.”
She emphasized that good communication skills are essential for all aspects of problem solving on the job. “The general public doesn’t understand what police officers actually do,” she said. She supports higher education for police officers to develop critical-thinking skills and commented that ongoing training is important both for officer effectiveness and retention. In today’s adversarial climate on the streets, communication is critical, yet Pecia noted that many law enforcement academies do not focus on training in this area.
Looking to the future, Pecia would like to contribute by helping police officers navigate their careers through mentoring and peer support. She hopes to encourage more women to pursue law enforcement careers, and she’s interested in advocating for law enforcement possibly through union involvement.
Pecia credits her mother as being a huge motivator and inspiration for her. She remembers, “My mother always said, ‘say yes to opportunities.’”
As a police officer, Pecia may have chosen a different path from her family, but she cannot escape the fire service. Prior to relocating to Virginia for Pecia’s new job, her husband, who she describes as her “strongest supporter,” retired from the Army and is pursuing a new career — as a firefighter.
