When Brandi Young graduated from the Memphis Police Department’s tactical training school, she became the second woman in the department’s history to be part of the elite unit and the first black woman.

At 31, Young, who has been an MPD officer since 2017, made it her top career goal to become a member of the Tactical Apprehension and Containment Team, or TACT unit.

After four weeks of rigorous training — which included hovering and jumping from a helicopter, running 150 miles, completing more than 5,000 pushups and 5,000 sit-ups and intensive firearms training with handguns, rifles and shotguns — Young received at graduation her crisp, black uniform and the unit’s Cobra insignia. She graduated Nov. 11 from TACT school.

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As a member of the TACT unit, Young’s job — like all the unit’s members — will entail dealing with high-risk warrants including homicide suspects, hostage and barricade situations and active-shooter situations. The unit also assists with dignitary protection and handles security details for large events and anything else requiring a tactical response.

Young has yet to go out on her first detail or callout with the unit, but she is ready.

As far as her being the first Black woman on the unit and the second woman since the unit was formed in 1976, Young said it’s an honor she doesn’t take lightly — especially since women make up just 13% of law enforcement in the country, according to the most recent study from the Pew Research Center.

“I think of it as representation,” she said. “The representation means a lot. Someone outside of the department or outside of the TACT unit who has hopes and dreams of one day becoming something bigger can say: ‘Hey, this person looks like me and they accomplished that. They’ve done it.’ I think the representation means a lot.”

Young also paid homage to retired Lt. Dawn Anishanslin York, who was the first woman to be on the TACT in 1988, two years before Young was born.

“Dawn York broke a barrier, and she did something that I didn’t have to do. She tore the wall down. She proved it could be done, and she didn’t have a blueprint,” Young said.

Anishanslin York, who retired from MPD in 2007, met Young briefly when Young was grinding her way through TACT school. In a phone interview, she offered the newest member of the unit some advice.

“My advice for her is to keep on going. Keep learning (and) don’t ever stop learning. Don’t ever stop working hard, and she knows what hard work is and she knows it pays off in the end. So keep going girl; we’re all proud of you,” Anishanslin York said.

Young’s supervisor and the commander of the TACT unit said she is a welcomed addition to the team.

“You have to have a heart for this job, and she has that heart,” said Lt. Darrell Banks, Young’s supervisor. “Diversity in any unit is always a great thing to have. Brandi differently put forth all the effort, the same as the guys. She was not shown any favoritism and she did an awesome job at going through the school and completing all the required tasks like any other TACT officer.”

TACT Commander Maj. Michael McCollum agreed, adding: “You have to go the extra mile with this job, and she has trained hard and we know she can help us out in a lot of situations.”

Young is a Memphis native. She graduated from East High School, where she played basketball. After graduation, she received a basketball scholarship to play at Xavier University in New Orleans. She had dreams of playing basketball professionally. When that didn’t work out, Young – her biology degree in hand — returned to Memphis to train to be a physical therapist.

But she said she still had the desire to serve the community.

“My grandfather was in the military and my uncle was a police officer. So growing up in that element, I think it kind of had a sway and guidance toward military and police,” Young said.

She chose the law enforcement route and became an MPD officer in 2017. She was a patrol officer and then was transferred to be a trainer at the firearms training unit after she earned a score of four 100’s on her firearms test. That earned her a silver “E” pin for expert shooter to be added to her uniform.

She said she liked being at the firearms academy, but she still had her desire to be part of the unit that she calls “the best of the best” with MPD.

Now that she is part of the TACT unit, Young said she is taking the advice of the woman who paved the way for her and learning as much as she can.

“It is surreal to think that I’m serving the community that made me,” she said. “It’s humbling, it’s surreal to be in this position, this same spot where I grew up — and it is right around the corner from the Airways precinct.”

She said she is happy to be on the TACT unit and not thinking right now about what comes next in her career.

“This is a milestone, and I am still taking it all in,” she said. “Whatever comes after that, it will come. Right now, it is one step at a time. One position at a time, and the TACT unit is where I want to be.”