Local cop swaps the badge for a crown as she wins state pageant

A 27-year-old Arizona cop has been crowned Miss Arizona 2023 and will go on to represent her state in the Miss USA contest later this year.

Candace Kanavel was praised by the Tempe Police Department for her big win on June 7.

'Join me in congratulating Tempe PD's own, Officer Kanavel!' read a message from the department posted to Facebook.

'From Miss Tempe to Miss Arizona USA, your PD family is extremely proud of you! #YesSheCan.'

Candace Kanavel, 27, shows off her winning sash and Tiara while dressed in her police officer gear (left) after taking home the top prize at the Miss Arizona pageant (right)

Kanavel, who studied political science and criminal justice at Arizona State University, said there are several parallels between her job as a crisis-intervention-trained hostage negotiator for the department's SWAT team and her pageant career.

'While they are opposite worlds, they actually complement each other really well. I would say my pageant career has helped me so much as a police officer and vice versa,' the brunette beauty told her local Fox station. 

She compared presenting oneself to the judges to a negotiation.

'You're trying to tell them about yourself and really have those personal connections with them, and that's exactly what we try to do as hostage negotiators. We're trying to have that connection with the person we are trying to help,' she said.

Kanavel said she decided to become a police officer in college at ASU after taking a criminal justice class

While becoming an officer, she continued competing in pageants. This was her seventh entrance into the Miss Arizona pageant and her 11th year in pageant competitions

Kanavel shared that, as a woman who sports both a badge and a crown, she's been able to confidently embrace all aspects of herself and hopes that she inspires girls everywhere to do the same.

'Being a feminine woman in law enforcement has its challenges because you are stepping into a profession that traditionally was built for men, so having to carve out that path for myself and make it known that it's OK that I'm feminine and that I do pageants, and be just as good at my job as my co-workers who are not,' she said.

She says she looks forward to continuing to fight crime while also fighting for the national title at the forthcoming Miss USA pageant. She has been competing in pageants for 11 years and this was her seventh entrance into the Miss Arizona pageant.

Kanavel said she decided to become a cop after taking a criminal justice class in college and, through her professor, becoming connected with the Tempe PD and working for the department as a civilian.

She said she was additionally attracted to the role because of the impact she saw the department having on the community and the impact she wished to have as well. 

Kanavel poses with some of the women involved in the Miss Arizona competition. Later this year, she will represent her state in the Miss USA contest

Several years back, the pageant winner launched an initiative called Yes She Can, which is aimed at teaching confidence and capability to women.

In an interview with Fox News, Kanavel said she has taught more than 200 women self-defense and situational awareness skills, both of which she utilizes at her job every day. 

The beauty queen told the hosts of America's Newsroom that the goal of the initiative is to 'ensure that no woman feels stuck in a situation that she doesn't know hot to get herself out of.'

As a police officer, Kanavel also recognized that the past few years have been rough in terms of the public's perception of and interaction with law enforcement officers.

She said that one of her hopes with pageantry and in general is that officers begin to connect with their communities by sharing their other interests.

'We all have other things that we're doing and I think that's a great way to connect with the community,' she said. 

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