2022 Locals Love Us Favorite Law Enforcement: Erin Chaney

Erin Chaney cried when she read the email informing her that she had been voted a 2022 Locals Love Us Favorite Law Enforcement officer by The Picayune Magazine readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners. 
“After tears, I read it to my mom,” she said. “My next reaction was pride at being noticed and making a difference in my community.” 
Chaney is a patrol deputy with the rank of field training officer for the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office. 
“This is the perfect job for me because I entered the field to help people,” she said. 
She started in dispatch after a friend referred her to a Sheriff’s Office opening in August 2016. 
After a year and a half, Chaney became a training coordinator in dispatch and realized how passionate she was about her job. 
“As a dispatcher, I didn’t want my participation to end when I hung up the phone,” she said. 
Her parents encouraged Chaney to apply for the Capital Area Council of Governments Regional Law Enforcement Academy in her fourth year as a dispatcher. She received academic and practical instruction to take, and pass, the Texas State Peace Officer Licensing Examination.
“Both of my parents helped me to pursue my dreams,” she said. “I attended CAPCOG night academy while working a full-time day shift in dispatch.” Chaney is definitely a people person. 
“I have had the best time meeting people from all walks of life,” she said. “I’ve loved realizing that every person has more in common with the next person than they know. I have things in common with the people I encounter, and that’s encouraging.”
Her diverse duties include everything from fielding phone calls about burn bans to arresting offenders and booking them into jail. 
“The spectrum is huge, and there’s never a dull moment,” she said. “I never know what’s going to happen in a day.” 
Chaney appreciates being a Locals Love Us award winner.
“It means so much to me because I grew up here in Burnet,” she said. 
alecia@thepicayune.com