Corporal Claudia Cormier currently serves in the San Marcos Police Department’s Patrol Division. She began her career with San Marcos Police Department as a dispatcher for eight years before graduating from the Peace Officer Academy in 2016. During her first year on the job, she responded to a massive structure fire, an effort for which she and her fellow responding coworkers received a commendation award. 

One evening in May 2019, while clearing debris from the road, Cpl. Cormier was struck by a passing vehicle, leaving her severely wounded with life-threatening injuries including the loss of her right leg; she spent three months in the hospital and had more than 20 surgeries. During her lengthy rehabilitation and healing process, Cpl.  Cormier went back to school and is currently working on her master's degree in public administration, and she was reinstated to full duty in 2022. She recently took on the lead role for the agency’s Peer Support Team, which provides pre-incident, on-scene, and post-incident support to officers and families. 

Today, Cpl. Cormier is part of the Master of Public Administration Advisory Board and is completing an applied research project that focuses on assessing and creating a return-to-duty program for the officers and civilian staff after a traumatic incident, injury, or extensive absence.  

Cpl. Cormier received the Star of Texas Award in September 2019 and the San Marcos Police Department Purple Heart Award. Most recently, she has been the recipient of a number of academic awards and initiated as a member of the National Political Science Honor Society at Texas State University.   

“I wanted to prove to my family and myself that, as a woman, I was already empowered to make a difference and encourage others to step out of their comfort zone.”