ABOUT ALYSHIA DYER:
Alyshia M. Dyer is the Washtenaw County Sheriff, elected in 2024. With over a decade of law enforcement experience, Sheriff Dyer began her career at the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office, serving as a Deputy Sheriff in the Law Enforcement Services Division and Marine Division. Her service earned her numerous awards, including the Meritorious Service Award, Community Engagement Award, and Unit Citations for her life-saving actions and leadership during critical incidents.
Sheriff Dyer holds an undergraduate degree from Eastern Michigan University, with a concentration in Police Administration, and earned graduate degrees from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan. After her time serving as a road patrol deputy, she also worked as a therapist and community organizer, furthering her commitment to reducing harm within the legal system and improving public safety. After graduate school, Sheriff Dyer returned to the Sheriff’s Office to begin serving Washtenaw County as the elected Sheriff for her first (2025-2028) term of office.
Sheriff Dyer is an active member of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, which promotes public safety through community trust and equity. She is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and an active member of the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association.
Growing up in Ypsilanti as a first-generation college graduate, Sheriff Dyer brings a deep personal understanding of the community she now serves. Outside of her professional duties, she enjoys traveling, karaoke, playing chess, and exploring innovative ways to improve public safety.
Under Sheriff Dyer’s leadership, the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office prioritizes services such as corrections, community corrections, community engagement, law enforcement services, emergency services, and reentry. The office is driven by its mission and values, focusing on community, compassion, safety, justice, authenticity, and creativity.
Washtenaw County, home to approximately 365,000 residents, spans about 723 square miles. It includes 28 diverse municipalities, from cities like Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Dexter; townships like Pittsfield, Superior, Ypsilanti, and Scio; to more rural townships, villages, and cities like Manchester, York, and Lodi.
RESOURCES:
Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office (WCSO)
TRANSCRIPTION:
David Fair: This is 89 one WEMU, and welcome to the last day of Women's History Month for 2025. I'm David Fair, and on this edition of Washtenaw United, we'll talk with the woman who has already made some history and is looking to make more. Alyshia Dyer was elected Washtenaw County Sheriff in November of last year and took over the office in January. She is the first woman to hold the title of Sheriff in Washtenaw County. And we appreciate the time that you'll take to talk with us today!
Alyshia Dyer: Thank you so much for having me!
David Fair: Well, in decades' past, and perhaps this is immersed perception on my part, but I think law enforcement was kind of viewed as a boys' club. There has most certainly been some evolution. How do you characterize the changes in both practice and perception?
Alyshia Dyer: You know, you are so right. And I think it's something that what my election shows, but as well as you other women that have broken barriers in our county as well as beyond, is that really trying to change the narrative that policing as a profession. Women add so much value to the profession. And the more women we can bring to the table, the more that it will add diversity to the state. The research is overwhelming. Women in law enforcement naturally are better with de-escalation, with reducing use of force, offer more communication and compassion to the environment. And the more that we can shake things up and break up this boys' club mentality really not just in policing, but in many of our professions across the country, it helps. And i will say when I started law enforcement back in 2012 after graduating the police academy, it was definitely still male-dominated and rigid — I was one of two women in the police academy—to now then breaking the barrier in 2025 at the first woman sheriff when the Sheriff's Office has been around since 1823, I think it really highlight that change is definitely coming, and we've had a lot of progress, but we still have a long way to go as well.
David Fair: Well, as I mentioned, you were elected back in November to the Office of Sheriff and took office in January. Has there been any resistance to your leadership within the department that you would characterize as gender-based bias?
Alyshia Dyer: No. Honestly, it hasn't been the department, or we say, office. It really has not been my employees. It's actually the politics. Politics is still a boys' club. And so, probably the gender bias, I would say that I've come across, has actually been more so at different events and different spaces. Some people are really just shocked when I say I'm the sheriff. They're might say, like, "Oh wow! You are a woman!"
David Fair: How does that make you feel?
Alyshia Dyer: I don't really take offense, I mean, I'm used to it, I've been in a male-dominated profession most of my life. And so, I'm sort of used to some of that pushback. But, honestly, I look at it as an opportunity to change the narrative. And then, it happened all the time, too, when I was just a deputy on patrol, where people are like, "Oh, wow! You're a woman in law enforcement!" And it was an opportunity to share with the community, like, this is what we do, this is what the profession's like. I think being in leadership in this role, what it does too, is it changes people's biases. So, I look at it as an opportunity to kind of have the conversation, but it's interesting, because, internally with my employees, I actually haven't seen that. People have been pretty positive. It has been definitely busy with a lot of the changes and bringing in a new leadership team. But I think what helped me as I worked at this office for 10 years in different divisions, whether it was road patrol or marine. But I do have a lot of relationships at all different ranks and different divisions. And so, I think the relationships help our leadership team in our success. But I think we also have a lot of employees in the Sheriff's Office that are excited for change and also have no problem with a woman leading in the office. I'm never gonna forget that I was going back and forth with not an officer but a community member and there was a deputy there too. And the community member was like, "Well, aren't you worried that Sheriff Dyer is going to be too soft. And she's a woman." And they're just joking around. But it was interesting. The deputy replied, "Well, actually, we could use some of that compassion right now." And we could use some of these the biases where it's like, "Oh, women are soft," or "This is what might happen in some of the more male-dominated circles." That's actually an asset. You know, I am a compassionate person, and I lean into that. And I don't think it's anything to shy away from. And what I hope other women in law enforcement can model is being themselves in the environment when sometimes if the environment is more rigid and more masculine, it's really easy to feel like you have to kind of fit in by being tough. Historically, in law enforcement, this is what kind of happens when you have less diversity in professions.
David Fair: This is Washtenaw United on 89 one WEMU, and we're talking with Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer. As we bring Women's History Month to a close, we're talking with the first woman ever elected Sheriff in Washtenaw County. Now you grew up in Ypsilanti and, in your childhood, did face some challenges and some adversity. And I'm curious as to what your encounters with law enforcement and the criminal justice system may have been back then.
Alyshia Dyer: Oh, man! Some positive. Some negative. I have talked a lot about it publicly. I came from a very low-income background, and I ran away from home a lot when I was a juvenile. And there were times I would have interactions with officers where it was helpful. But then, there were some really negative encounters as well that sort of really motivated me to get into law enforcement. On a traffic stop, I was falsely arrested once when I was a juvenile and still very vividly remember that. And then, actually, it was so funny because, later on in life as a deputy, I was able to come across that officer, and we were able to have really kind of talk it out. And he remembered the traffic stop. And so, I think it really added another layer being from this community, understanding what it's like to feel harmed by the police. This officer in particular made a mistake, and it caused me a lot of trauma as a kid. And I think understanding those things now as a leader in law enforcement is really impactful because it's really easy in this profession to forget how we're making people feel. Oftentimes, the context, even if they are just another call for a deputy for example, those people are remembering it ten years later, right? And so, my interaction is what I remember from growing up with the police have really shaped how I operate as Sheriff. It also shaped how I operated as a deputy, and it helped me kind of understand different perspective in our community.
David Fair: Along the journey, did you encounter female law enforcement officers or court officials that you wanted to emulate or model after?
Alyshia Dyer: So, Chief Radzik in Saline, actually, is a huge mentor and role model of mine. And she was a commander at the Sheriff's Office when I was in the road patrol division as a deputy. And she really had my back. I really was impressed with her leadership, because she was a very empathetic and compassionate person as a boss. But also, it was just who she was. And it was nice to be able to see another woman in law enforcement that wasn't kind of following that "Let's try to be in the old boys' club in and be rigid and be mean," because, sometimes, unfortunately, that can happen too even with women. And so, it was a very positive role model for me when she was here at the office. And now, in Saline, with me as Sheriff and she's Chief over there, and she's also broken barriers in that role, it is really helpful to have her in Washtenaw County because it's a huge positive role model for me.
David Fair: Our Women's History Month edition of Washtenaw United continues, and our guest on 89 one WEMU this morning is Alyshia Dyer. She is the first ever female Sheriff in Washtenaw County. Beyond that one example, were there other female role models you had as a youngster that now inform how you go about your life, both professionally, but personally as well?
Alyshia Dyer: Yeah, I mean, so many. Teachers. You know, in middle school, I had teachers that really had my back when I was going through a lot and really, I think, shaped who I am. I have a mentor, Susan. She is a professor at U of M. And when I was growing up, she was really that positive mentor that helped keep me out of trouble, especially in school and making sure that I succeed and helped to get into community college. So many women have had my back and paved the way for me to be able to do what I'm doing now. The first woman and Black woman at the Sheriff's Office that served as a deputy, Janie Jones--I was able to meet her on patrol. And I'll never forget being out in the community and talking to her about how like she had to wear skirts when she patrolled. And if she didn't to the work that she did, it would have been harder. I think with great responsibility. I think about, now that I'm Sheriff, I also am responsible to pave the way for other young women getting into the profession. And so, I would say there's just too many to count that have really had my back and have really made me the woman that I am today.
David Fair: Well, you talk about the shoulders that you stand upon, and now you're in a position of leadership in which you would hope that today's girls and young women will look to you for modeling behaviors. What do you hope to pass along as you progress through your career as Sheriff?
Alyshia Dyer: You know, I hope to pass along that people belong in all spaces. And I think the thing that is really core to my beliefs are it's really important that, especially for women or for people that are not in the majority, to know that it's really easy to doubt yourself in a society that is set up to make that happen all the time.
David Fair: Right.
Alyshia Dyer: And it's really important, I think, for young people to know that they can do what they want in this world and to not let other people tell them what they can or can't do, to push back and stand at their ground when they believe in something when they're passionate about something. If I can instill that in our community as a leader, as well as at the Sheriff's Office for other young women just getting into the profession, that's a huge win because that's how we then really continue breaking barriers and continue positively changing our communities for the better.
David Fair: Well, with that in mind, are there opportunities in the Sheriff's Office right now for some of those young women that may be interested in a career in law enforcement?
Alyshia Dyer: Yes, we are hiring! So, we are hiring in our road patrol division, and we are doing sponsorships. So, we are also helping with putting people through the police academy and covering all the training. If people are interested in getting into policing, we can set you up with a ride-along. We also have informational sessions and ways that we can highlight what we do. And it's not like the movies. Like, you're not running around kicking doors down every day. And so, I think it's really important for people that, if they are interested in policing, to really come see what it's like, because you have such an ability to make such a positive impact in your community. We're also hiring in the jail. And so, with corrections, we're doing a lot of really positive things in the jail to really help curb recidivism and really, hopefully, put people on the right track, so they're not coming back in the jail and trying to create a more compassionate environment in that space. It's really impactful. My correction deputies have been so positive. And it was really interesting that I've learned as sheriff because I came from the road patrol side. There's so many deputies. At road patrol, you might have to arrest somebody. Then, you take them to jail. And then, at corrections, you're sort of there providing their care and, while they're in your custody, making sure that they leave in a better spot than when they came in. And so, for people that are interested in more social work-minded professions, I think that is an opportunity to really help a lot of people. Also dispatch--our first responders in dispatch that have to answer calls for crisis, we're hiring there as well. So, I would really urge people to go to the Washtenaw Sheriff's website, and you can hear job openings there. You can apply. People can reach out to us on our website. And I really, really hope that more women and more people from Washtenaw County apply because it really makes all the difference.
David Fair: Well, we will most certainly make sure that we have all of those links posted on our website at wemu.org. Sheriff Dyer, thank you for the time and the conversation! And I look forward to our next!
Alyshia Dyer: Awesome! Thank you so much!
David Fair: That is Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer, the first woman ever elected Sheriff in Washtenaw County and our final guest in the celebration of Women's History Month. Washtenaw United is produced in partnership with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and you hear it every Monday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti. Celebrating 60 years of broadcasting from the campus of Eastern Michigan University!
WEMU has partnered with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to explore the people, organizations, and institutions creating opportunity and equity in our area. And, as part of this ongoing series, you’ll also hear from the people benefiting and growing from the investments being made in the areas of our community where there are gaps in available services. It is a community voice. It is 'Washtenaw United.'
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