Susan Rockett is a collector.

Diecast cars, patches – she has them adorning the walls of her office. But her collections are specific to her job. Rockett displays model police cars, patches from various police departments and more.

Rockett serves as chief of the Mexico Department of Public Safety, a role she has held for the past 11 years. But her experience as a police officer goes back to 1992, when she first donned a uniform in Sikeston.

A bootheel native, Rockett attended Southeast Missouri State and earned degrees from Warner University in Florida and Anderson University in Indiana before becoming a public servant. Rockett came to Mexico from Calumet Park, Illinois, where she was assistant chief of police.

What’s the difference between being an officer and being chief? It’s technically not as much fun. The excitement level is greatly diminished.

Do you ever get out? I do. I like to drive around. I’ll go on calls every now and again. You came here from a Chicago suburb.

Big city to small town? I feel I landed pretty high. I love the town. I love the people of Mexico. I’m working with the best people I’ve ever worked with.

How often are officers asked about doughnuts? (Laughing) I’m not offended by that. Everybody loves doughnuts.

And the association leads to some good programs, like coffee … Coffee with a Cop. We’ve done that. And people will bring in doughnuts. They may be feeding a stereotype, but they’re also feeding us.

How long does it take to become good at what is a tough job? It’s such a sliding scale. The town we’re in is at a size where we have to be well rounded. Patrol does their own investigating. They are capable of writing warrants. They take their cases from start to finish. There’s an opportunity here to learn, to become well rounded.

Is it hard to find and keep officers in a small town department? It’s not a small town problem. Every chief I’ve spoken with is having a hard time recruiting and retaining. That’s the nature of our current national situation. Here we are careful about who we hire, but we are doing innovative things to recruit officers. Those are paying off.

So events of the summer affect recruitment? It’s largely the events of the year and the last five years. People are missing the joy, the fulfillment of the job by being caught up in what they see on TV. And this is the greatest job in the world.

What makes it so great? It’s the fulfillment of what you’re doing to help people, the different you make in people’s lives on a daily basis, the protection you give the community. Every day is something different.

But you also see people at their worst moments. There’s always a downside. It behooves us to remember to protect the dignity of everyone we encounter.