Ariél Zangla is reporting for the Daily Freeman Ulster County officials on March 1, swore in the first woman to serve as superintendent of the county jail. Col. Evelyn Mallard said she began working in law enforcement almost accidentally, but found it a rewarding career that has given her the chance to serve. She was born in Manhattan, but grew up in Rockland County, graduating from high school there. After high school she enrolled at Rockland Community College, where she encountered a state police recruiter and decided to join. "It wasn't a thing that really I had thought of, because back then — that was in the mid- to late 80s — there weren't a lot of women in law enforcement," Mallard said. "So, it kind of happened accidentally." Mallard went on to serve 30 years with the state police and three years with the Orange County Sheriff's Office. By the time she retired from the state police in 2016, she had reached the rank of major. Following retirement she finished her master's in public administration at Marist College, and went to work at Rockland Community College as an adjunct professor, teaching criminal justice and cultural diversity classes. Mallard said the superintendent job will give her a chance to use her background in law enforcement as well as management. She said it also gives her a chance to make some positive changes for incarcerated people, perhaps by adding programs and opportunities to help them post-release. Mallard succeeded Col. Jerome John, the first African-American superintendent of the jail, who left in February, after nearly two years of service. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.