With her appointment, Jacobs became part of a growing trend of cities with women at the helm of affairs in the police department.

By IKE MGBATOGU

Contributing Writer

COLUMBUS – It goes without saying that Columbus Division of Police Deputy Chief Kimberley Jacobs knew when she applied for the position of police chief it would be a history making endeavor if she got the job.

And now that Mayor Michael Coleman has actually appointed her as Columbus Chief of Police, she seemingly would now like to go about her new job without saying it.

“The people that know me respect me for the job that I do, the passion I have and the commitment I have,” said Jacobs, when responding a reporter’s question about being the first woman to hold that job in Columbus.

And that passion for the job, wrapped up in a trifecta of core qualities of “innovation, leadership and efficiency” was seemingly why Coleman favored Jacobs over four other candidates who applied for the job, including Deputy Chief Stephen Gammill, who served as acting chief since Chief Walter Distelzweig retired in January.

“While we already have the best police officers in the nation, I believe they can achieve even more under the leadership of Kim Jacobs,” said Coleman, who went on to say, “Throughout her career, Kim Jacobs has exhibited leadership, dedication and a passion for the Columbus Division of Police. She has my full confidence and my best wishes for success.”

The 54-year old Jacobs took office last week and will serve at the pleasure of the mayor for two five-year terms. She became the city’s 32nd police chief and the first woman to be named chief of police. She was elated about the opportunity to serve.

“Thank you to Mayor Coleman and Director Brown for believing in me and giving me this wonderful opportunity,” said Jacobs. “I look forward to working with city administrators, division personnel and the community to build partnerships creating even better relationships to improve the safety and security of our citizens.”

Jacobs should also thank the nominating committee of three members established by Coleman to help find Distelzweig’s replacement. Coleman made his selection based on the group’s advice. Headed by former City Council President Matt Habash, the panel included Karen Days, president of the Center for Family Safety and Healing and Larry Price, an associate pastor at Triedstone Baptist Church and president and CEO of L. Price and Associates.

Jacobs, as is always the case in historic appointments of this ilk, and some would say understandably so, if only for sake of modesty, downplayed being the city’s first female chief. But there’s no way getting around emphasizing her impressive accomplishments being the “first” in several positions during her career climb in the division, where she pierced the glass ceiling a number of times before shattering it altogether with her momentous catapult as Columbus top cop.

Jacobs joined the division in 1979 as a West Side police officer and became a sergeant in 1987.  She then became the first female commander in 1995 before being appointed the first female deputy chief in 2009.

As chief, Jacobs would have to grapple with the frosty and always simmering relationship between the division and the police union, a fractious relationship she is no stranger to. Actually, her experience and leadership handling that rift for the division may have been the single most compelling factor that excited Coleman about her candidacy for this big promotion.

Jacobs was the brain behind the 2010 redistricting plan that overhauled the division’s patrol unit. The emerged new system introduced a new dispatch model based on “work load” allowing officers to be sent to parts of the city where they are needed the most rather than the previous practice of rigidly confining officers to specific neighborhoods regardless of need.

Despite the ferocious objection of the union for the new system, it was implemented in July, with Coleman expressing support for the new system.  But it deepened the acrimonious relationship between the division and the union.

As deputy chief, Jacobs was responsible for the division’s training, human resource management, payroll, fiscal and budgeting issues. She also handled matters of rules and standards and the application of disciplinary issues, while working a liaison between the division and the mayor’s office and the office of the chief of public safety.

In Columbus, the chief of police must be hired from within, either from the ranks of current deputy chiefs or the force commanders.

Holding an Ohio Driver license is a requirement to serve as chief, as well as a college degree, plus at least one year of uninterrupted experience on the job for deputy chiefs and five years of continuous service for commanders.

Jacobs met all of those requirements. She has a bachelor’s degree in Sociology with an emphasis in Criminology from The Ohio State University.

With her appointment, Jacobs became part of a growing trend of cities with women at the helm of affairs in the police department.

In 1908, trailblazer Lola Baldwin made history after being the first female police officer hired in the United States for the city of Portland, Ore. Police Department.  Now, 14 percent of all police officers in the country are women. However, despite that progress, only about “2 percent of all police chiefs in the country are women. That sums up to about 212 chiefs in a country with over 18,000 police departments.

. He can be reached by email at Onumbamedia@yahoo.com