Hostage negotiator makes history as first law enforcement officer to compete in Miss USA pageant

Candace Kanavel, the self-proclaimed beauty queen by day and police officer by night, will represent Arizona, Friday, according to a press release from the Tempe Police Department.

While at the surface the two jobs appear nothing alike, Kanavel says they’re actually very similar.

The 27-year-old, who works as a hostage negotiator on the SWAT team, has said the skills she learned to become an officer have come in handy when competing in pageants.

“A lot of the qualities that I have to have as an officer translate directly to my role as Miss Arizona USA and vice versa. I have to be a really good communicator. I have to be a leader. I have to be able to be flexible with whatever’s going on and work through different situations,” she told KNXV.

Helping women feel powerful and confident is all part of her platform.

“When I’m in my police uniform, I’m empowered to help people,” Officer Kanavel said. “And when I’m in my sash and crown, I’m empowered to help people. And so I’m doing the same job, just in a different uniform.”

Kanavel founded Yes She Can, an initiative focused on confidence and capability.

“I started Yes She Can because of my own story, but also feeling like people constantly look at me as a very feminine woman and discount what I may be capable of,” she said. “I know that happens to so many women, especially being in my line of work as a police officer. I think people see femininity as weakness, and it’s not.”

“I want to give people who aren’t in law enforcement a little insight into what officers are like,” Kanavel said. “We have hobbies, we have families, we have all these different things outside of what we do for a living.”

Related Posts

A 24-year-old father, who has several tattoos all over his body, makes the decision to get them erased for his child

Ethan Modboy Bramble is one of Australia’s most famous bloggers. With 95% of his body covered in tattoos, a split tongue, cropped ears, blackened eyes, expanded nostrils,…

I Said No to Watching My Daughter’s Kids During Her Health Crisis

I’m a 58-year-old⁣ mom to ⁢my daughter Sarah, who’s 32 and just had ​her third baby. My husband, who’s 60, and I live about half an hour…

Millionaire Mocks Poor Woman with 3 Kids on Business Class Flight until Pilot Interrupts Him — Story of the Day

A millionaire judges a mother-of-three and criticizes her for flying business class, but when the pilot announces their arrival with a special announcement for the woman, all…

Maria is going. Then carer takes something out of his pocket and fulfills her last wish.

Maria, a former singing and piano teacher in her final days at an Ohio care facility, longed for the music that once filled her life. Joshua Woodard,…

All Walmart Shoppers Should Read This Before They Go Shopping- Walmart Has Announced That They Are

All Walmart Shoppers Should Read This Before They Go Shopping- Walmart Has Announced That They Ar Walmart Has Announced That They Are Replacing Self-Checkout Machines With Something…

My Ex-husband Got Our House, Car and All Our Money After Divorce – I Laughed Because That Was Exactly What I Planned

After a bitter marriage marked by Mike’s obsession with material wealth, Nicole shockingly agrees to give him everything in their divorce. But as Mike revels in his…