Big Bend Criminal Justice graduate Elizabeth Flores becomes Grant County Sheriff’s Office’s first bilingual Public Information Officer

COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
EMRY DINMAN

EPHRATA — Ever since the Grant

County Sheriff’s Office’s newly-minted Public Information Officer Elizabeth “Liz” Flores was a high schooler, she wanted to be involved in law enforcement.

She faced challenges at first, lacking opportunities to pursue her dream after she graduated from high school. Back then, her mother cautioned her against a career in law enforcement, fearing the dangerous situations Flores would be put in.

But the opportunity to return to school and pursue a degree in criminal justice didn’t elude Flores for good, and she received that degree from Big Bend Community College in 2018. Though she laments that she’s now too old to join the FBI, Flores has found a way to give back and get involved with the sheriff’s office.

Flores may have found a middle ground that would have kept her mother from worrying, as well. Since last November, Flores has been working as a volunteer PIO (Public Information Officer), becoming a vital part of a law enforcement team without putting her life at perpetual risk.