Four months after graduating from Ohio State in June 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, Kimberley Jacobs entered the Columbus Police Academy and Regional Training Center.
Today, she runs it.
Jacobs, 49, is one of three high-ranking female administrators within the division.
She was the first female police officer promoted to the ranks of lieutenant and commander, the latter position being her current. She has been a local trailblazer for women in law enforcement, hurdling barriers in a male-dominated profession.
Jacobs now manages a staff of nearly 40 sworn and civilian employees who make training happen at the police department’s new 166,288 square foot academy.
Her office in the building has a plethora of OSU memorabilia and a photo of Jacobs from her days on the OSU women’s track and field team.
“My coach told me if I didn’t three step, I wasn’t going to the Big Ten meet,” Jacobs said, recalling her old tendency to take four strides between hurdles when she ran 100-meter hurdle races. Mamie Rollins, her coach, a mentor and two-time Olympian, told her four-stepping wasn’t the best way to run a race.
“I screwed up,” Jacobs said. “I four-stepped and I didn’t get to go.”
She shook her head ruefully as she sat sideways at a conference table.
“But I learned a lot from my coach,” Jacobs said. “I learned discipline, and to do what you’re expected to do.”
This discipline would help in her future career.
When Jacobs was a junior at OSU, she switched her major to sociology – with an emphasis on criminology – after a conversation with a highway patrolman sparked an interest in law enforcement. She later confirmed her career path during a course-required cruiser ride along with a female police officer.
“I hadn’t considered it before because women weren’t doing it then,” Jacobs said. “In the mid-70s, it wasn’t a job for women. Very few departments were looking for them.”
In 1973, there were 946 male officers at the Columbus Division of Police, and only 20 “policewomen” – a now extinct job title for females who were only assigned to work in the juvenile and detective bureaus. Not until 1975 were women given the equal title of officer and given patrol duties.
In June 1980, Jacobs was an exception. She was one of 14 women in a class of 52 recruits to graduate in the 59th academy class.
She also received the class academic award for achieving the highest grade point average.
It was during another cruiser ride along, this time with a male officer while in the academy, that Jacobs first experienced the skepticism and ostracism that awaited her. “He said, ‘I don’t think women belong in the police department’ to my face,” she said, eyebrows raised. “That was a challenge for me, to be able to graduate knowing I’d have to go to work with him or someone else like him.”
During the next seven years she worked the streets, often dealing with citizens and co-workers who doubted her ability.
She chased burglars along snow-covered ravines in the dark, searched vacant buildings at night without knowing what to expect and made many on-site felony arrests during routine patrol.
After building a reputation, Jacobs’ first of three promotions was in 1987. She has since commanded the communications, internal affairs and patrol bureaus. She revised overtime and training programs for police dispatchers, reorganized citizen complaint procedures, created a new domestic violence offense report for officers and worked closely with safety and security officials at OSU during special events.
She said when she was climbing ranks in the department, she had to work extra hard.
“Men are assumed they’re capable until they prove otherwise,” Jacobs said. “Women pretty much have to prove they’re capable until people start feeling comfortable around them.”
