There is no such thing as a “normal day” for Highland Heights Police Department Social Worker Angie Weinel.
From courtrooms to responding to mental health crises, Weinel has helped bridge the gap between the Highland Heights Police Department police department and Highland Heights citizens for over three years as a police social worker.
Journey to becoming a police social worker
Her journey to becoming a social worker wasn’t something she discovered quickly. After graduating high school, she pursued her bachelor’s degree but took time away to become a hairstylist.
She later returned to school, enrolled in Gateway Technical and Community College, and joined the Gateway 2 NKU program, a dual admissions partnership between the two schools.
During her bachelor’s degree, Weinel wanted to gain as much experience in the field as possible. She completed internships at various residential and nonprofit organizations.
Following graduation, Weinel applied to the police social worker position serving all residents of Campbell County.
After graduating, things picked up quickly for Weinel as she joined the Highland Heights as a police social worker in 2021 on a grant supporting police departments in Campbell County while also beginning her master’s degree at NKU.
“That whole year [starting as a police social worker and beginning my master’s program] was really a blur—it was so much,” Weinel said.
After only about a year of serving Campbell County, Weinel began exclusively working at the Highland Heights Police Department.
The calling to pursue social work
Weinel’s mother advised pursuing something related to how outspoken she was.
“My mom would always say ‘you’re going to be a lawyer because you like to argue,’ which can be true. I call it advocating, but that’s fine,” Weinel said. “I have always been a social worker at heart.”
After discovering the field of social work, Weinel said it was a perfect match for what she wanted in her career.
“Social work is one of those things that you fall into because you don’t really fit a certain mode. Social work is nice because you can do multiple different things all at one time and work in different areas. I really liked social work, I just didn’t know about it until later in life.”
When asking Weinel what a normal day looks like, the simple answer is, “I don’t know.”
“I have a ‘this is how it’s supposed to go,’ and then I have a backup of ‘this is not how any of this was supposed to go,” Weinel said.
Locations can vary on the job, both inside and outside.
“I always made the joke, one day I wore office shoes and not even 20 minutes later I’m out in the woods,” Weinel said. “You can be in the court, then in the woods within hours of each other. You could be talking to a homeless person, you could be talking to prosecutors, and you have to be approachable to both.”
In her role, she works in every aspect of the police department—responding to calls, working with detectives and even being in courthouses.
She assists city offices, such as the code enforcement, in responding to incidents to protect passed ordinances and zoning regulations in the city. Part of her job is helping connect the residents to community resources in these types of calls, like assisting residents in helping them make sure their grass is cut.
Other community outreach efforts include helping citizens purchase clothes who may not have access to do so.
“For example, today I was able to take someone to get clothes today, and she was so happy,” Weinel said. “You don’t get to see that a lot, whether it’s in law enforcement or social work. When I am able to see a good outcome it is always so nice.”
What it’s like to work with Weinel
Weinel is one of the very few women who work in the police department, and she said it’s like having brothers that she never had growing up.
“I’ve never had brothers, but I feel like I have 13, a couple of dads on top of that too,” Weinel said.
She mentioned the dynamic of wearing two hats as a police social worker, thinking differently for each one she wears.
“It’s like I am in two worlds, the police world and social work world,” Weinel said. “Interns that I work with say “why don’t we just do this,’ and in the social work world, we would, but in a police world, police officers are coming from a different angle, and they see things that we don’t in the social work world.
Weinel mentioned that one of the challenges that come with being a police social worker is a lack of awareness of what her role is in the city and police department and the grit that comes with it.
“One of the challenges in the community is people ask, ‘what is a police social worker? Or having to explain what I do each day is difficult,” Weinel said. “It is not for the weak. We work so hard to do everything possible for both our officers and our community.”
Weinel explained how the end goal is always to see how best to serve citizens.
“It takes a lot from both sides to be willing to find a solution that helps that person because, at the end of the day, it’s about [the community],” Weinel said.
One of the interns who works with Weinel is Jordan Schowalter, an intern at the Cabinet for Kentucky Health and Services and a social work student at NKU.
One of the things Schowalter said he liked best about working with Angie is the practical approach and intelligence she brings to clients.
“She’s so level-headed, and she is always so calm and keeps herself collected,” Schowalter said. “The way she talks to clients is so intelligent, and there’s never a missed step when she’s working with [them].”
He mentioned the huge impact Angie has had on him through his own professional growth through a roundtable that she facilitates every few weeks to bring police social workers for a conversation with the Cabinet.
“The roundtable is such an important aspect of what Angie does, and she runs the entire thing,” Weinel said. “I just think it’s such an important thing, and she’s one of the reasons we all stay connected.”
Other colleagues, like Highland Heights Code Enforcement Officer Dave Fornash, said how much it has helped to have Weinel working in the police department.
“I love working with Angie, especially now that I am in code enforcement. There are a lot of avenues where we can help people together,” Fornash said. “Both her and I are big in the community [in our positions], and she’s helped both for code enforcement and the department entirely.”
He added how Weinel helps a ton in the police aspect in her role as a police social worker.
“Certain things we can’t follow up on as police officers because we don’t have the time to,” Fornash said. “She’s able to follow up with multiple resources for citizens in Highland Heights.”
Fornash said how he thinks others would be surprised at the volume of work she does for the city.
“I don’t think the citizens really understand what a police social worker does; it’s so new in the area. I think people would be surprised at what she does and how much she does. It’s not just [responding to dispatches], it’s also helping people in the community.”