Patrol officer Lavonne Dickerson has public safety in her veins.

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At age 3, she attended her mom's police graduation with her grandfather, also a cop. At her own graduation, she had her badge pinned on by her mom. They became the first African American mother and daughter to serve in the county police department.

“I feel very overjoyed about that to make history,” says Lavonne Dickerson

Meanwhile, over in criminal investigations corporal Loretta Williams says she never pushed her daughter to become a cop.

"If it's not for her, she wants to go in a different direction, that's for her and I'm gonna be proud of her no matter which way she decides to go,” she says of her daughter.

Though she can see how the lessons of Lavonne's childhood have translated to her career.

“As she was growing up I have always been this way: it's safety safety safety,” Williams says.

Prince George's County currently has three mother daughter pairs on its police department. It's had a number of them over the years. But it's always tried to split them up to make sure they don't get into difficult situations out in the field.

And while Dickerson says they have their mother daughter quibbles: “I have my whole way of how I police, so it makes it a little difficult. She's like, ‘no do it this way.’ And I’m like, ‘no we don’t do it that way anymore!’”

The passion they share for the job has brought them closer together.

“Because I'm still on patrol in the department I see a lot of things, and if I need to vent I can go to her, if I need advice,” Dickerson says.