OFFICER DEBORAH P. MILAM

BADGE 8655, ID 1121

SDPD 12/05/2019 - 11/18/2020

07/20/1979 - 11/18/2020

THE THIN BLUE LINE

By Katherine Milam

Without any warning on November 18, 2020, the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) lost an officer and I lost my big sister, Deborah Priscilla Milam.

I was asked to give a brief summary of her life to share with this community; an impossible task in a short article, but I will try to give you a brief glimpse of Deborah.

Deborah, or as I called her Debbie, was born and raised in San Diego, California. She was baffling smart, athletic, and always up for a good adventure.

She received multiple scholarship offers to a multitude of colleges due to her almost perfect SAT score and grades.

She swam, played water polo, and ran cross country and track in high school. She continued to swim and play water polo in college.

She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Geographic Information System at San Diego State University and went on to pursue a Master’s degree in the same area. She took Calculus and Statistics courses for fun.

She travelled the world teaching English in Korea and Spain. She spent a semester abroad in the Netherlands and Germany studying urban planning for her Master’s degree.

Everywhere she went, she volunteered. She would work with kids, clean up roads, help with animals… anything that was needed. She worked off and on at the YMCA almost her entire adult life, until one day she decided to become a police officer.

Debbie surprised the entire family with that decision, but once she started, being an officer just fit so well. She was not what one might consider a typical police officer.

She was older and had never shot a gun in her life, not to mention, she was not exactly physically intimidating. But she was passionate about helping people that are often overlooked. I am told by her academy mates that she was bit of an unexpected competitor, being a very fast runner and pretty decent at the obstacle courses and such. She completed all of the phases during phase training in one shot and was assigned to SDPD’s Eastern division.

She was so excited and was already talking about what she would have to do to become a detective – her dream from the moment she was hired.

She was planning on marrying her fiancé, Will, at the end of December 2020 during his break from Army Ranger School. She was so happy and excited about this new part of her life before she passed away.

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