In-Depth Interview With Jennifer Knight, Deputy Police Chief, Columbus, Ohio

Jennifer Knight, Deputy Police Chief in Columbus, Ohio, is known for dynamic leadership, innovative community engagement, and excellence in the field of law enforcement. After earning a bachelors degree in Public Administration, Ms. Knight worked full-time while attending law school at Capital University. Upon graduation, she obtained her Juris Doctor and was granted the National

Jennifer Knight, Deputy Police Chief in Columbus, Ohio, is known for dynamic leadership, innovative community engagement, and excellence in the field of law enforcement.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, Ms. Knight worked full-time while attending law school at Capital University. Upon graduation, she obtained her Juris Doctor and was granted the National Women’s Law Association Award of Excellence.

Promoting quality leadership and communication in the field of law enforcement, Ms. Knight is a strong advocate for women within the profession.

She is passionate about community engagement and has implemented several innovative projects designed to connect the agency with local citizens.

She also participates in community events such as Shop With a Cop, Books and Badges, fundraising running events, and community Thanksgiving food donations.

Ms. Knight is passionate and active in human trafficking prevention and supports nonprofits that assist trafficking victims.

Her efforts include developing educational materials, writing legislation, and scaling a 38-story building to raise money for GraceHaven, a local non-profit providing shelter, and support services for human trafficking survivors.

In her free time, Ms. Knight trains for the more than thirty road races, from 5Ks to marathons, that she runs annually. She spends weekends with her husband and family and is an avid Ohio State football fan.

What are some issues you are passionate about as Deputy Police Chief?

I’m very passionate about leadership, and I believe good leadership is a critical component of everything we do in law enforcement.

Everyone from the leader of an organization to the officer on the street working in a cruiser has leadership opportunities, and we have a responsibility to celebrate strong leadership, as well as mentor the next generation of leaders in law enforcement.

Like many, I have gained insight into leadership qualities and behaviors by listening and watching others in supervisory roles; and, there is an opportunity to learn something from not only great leaders but poor leaders.

Leaders do not wield their position like a sword, they never bully, and they have no need to remind others of their position within an organization.

True leaders will never demoralize or publicly reprimand subordinates, but will instead focus on lifting others up through encouragement and positive feedback.

True leaders recognize they are not granted wisdom and knowledge through a title, and they consistently value the other voices in the room. Leaders listen, build trust through a commitment to communication, and seek to recognize others above themselves.

At an executive level, it is important to recognize that when you speak you have a variety of audiences, often with competing concerns.

When law enforcement leaders speak, they are speaking to the community, other elected officials, business leaders, and the officers within the organization.

Even during a crisis, the officers within an organization should not feel abandoned, and support for good police work must be recognized and acknowledged throughout the organization. True leaders remain mindful that every audience is listening.

I believe that servant leadership is crucial, and a collaborative approach to solving problems improves outcomes.

Leaders recognize that they cannot solve complex problems in a vacuum, and they must surround themselves with intelligent people and diversity of thought.

One of the most common mistakes in decision-making occurs when leaders surround themselves exclusively with people that think like them or those that will adopt the leader’s perspective and opinion.

Law enforcement leaders understand that collaboration is the path forward in almost every situation.

There is always an opportunity to listen to community stakeholders and law enforcement professionals within an agency and become a catalyst that spans the bridge between those two.

Leaders take the time to learn and understand the depth and nuances of the challenges facing the community and law enforcement.

Lastly, we have to learn to be capable of leading a diverse group, both internally and externally, toward our established goals. As we continue to welcome new and more diverse groups into the law enforcement community, we should understand the value new ideas bring to the profession.

This leads me to another passion, advocating for other women in law enforcement. I’m a firm believer that law enforcement is at its very core a job in communications, and women are typically great communicators.

They are also very good multitaskers; as a mother, I see the correlation between an aptitude for crisis management and multitasking and success in law enforcement.

In an environment where agencies are competing to attract potential candidates, women continue to be a vastly under-recruited resource.

I am an example of someone that was never recruited and never considered law enforcement as a career. This profession opens doors for women they often never thought existed.

Another issue that you are passionate about is human trafficking. What are some ways that you’ve focused on that issue throughout your career?

Human trafficking, and how law enforcement addresses this issue through enforcement, have evolved considerably over the last 20 years.

Law enforcement agencies had typically focused enforcement activity on those very visible signs impacting the community, often a prostitute walking on a street in a more depressed area.

Enforcement tactics were designed to address this visible crime. The enforcement had little impact on reducing this crime, reducing the victimization of a vulnerable population, or addressing the underlying issues that were driving women to the street.

Over time, agencies have come to recognize that this was a symptom of a much greater evil.

Law enforcement had to look at the problem through a different lens. In central Ohio, we have effectively learned to do that by understanding that while a crime is being committed, those involved in selling are most often victims of a much greater criminal network, driven by an insatiable market of sex buyers.

Law enforcement and the community needed to change their perception of sellers as criminals, to one that recognized them as victims.

Law enforcement was ill-equipped to provide the support necessary to remove these sellers from the cycle of addiction, victimization, and prostitution.

By recognizing those individuals as victims, by creating a collaboration with nonprofits that supported those victims, and by building judicial structures that addressed these offenses differently, we were able to begin to break this powerful and damaging cycle. Understanding, support, and collaboration with communities where these crimes were occurring also became an important part of the solution.

I have met with many human trafficking victims in various stages of victimization and I can attest to their strength and compassion. They are our sisters, our mothers, our sons, and daughters, and they wear the tragedy of their experience on their faces.

They are from “good” families and they are born from abuse. I have watched them struggle to escape the addiction that drives human trafficking in so many cases, and I have witnessed their triumph when they leave the life of victimization and abuse behind.

I have worked closely with the nonprofits in our area, and I know their work is critical to connecting to those victims and providing them a pathway forward.

Law enforcement agencies should transition from a singular focus on the sellers of sex, that very visible part of human trafficking, to a greater focus on the demand that is driving this market.

The successful prosecution of a trafficker has a much greater impact and can free several from a life of abuse. Likewise, identifying, arresting, and exposing the buyers that are driving the demand, will have a larger impact than the arrest of a victim.

How do we educate the next generation of potential victims? How do we educate parents? How do we educate teachers and social workers about the signs of victimization?

The average age a person first becomes a victim of human trafficking is 13; if we wait to educate children and adults until high school, we will lose so many more.

I remain a strong advocate in this arena, and I challenge others to volunteer and support local nonprofits that provide critical victim services. They are valuable law enforcement partners and they have the resources and support to provide victims a way out.

Law enforcement should develop a comprehensive and collaborative plan that partners with nonprofits and evaluates legislative opportunities that address the demand that is driving the victimization of our most vulnerable..

What advice do you have for someone who wants to join law enforcement?

I encourage anyone interested in law enforcement to reach out to a local agency and do a ride-along. I suggest every single adult do a ride-along with the police department in their community.

You will have an opportunity to observe this challenging and professional profession from the front seat of a cruiser; you will have a behind-the-scenes look and perspective on what law enforcement deals with daily and will see the problems your particular neighborhood faces.

It is a wonderful experience, and I guarantee if you’re interested in law enforcement, even a little bit, you will be impressed and excited about the profession after 10 minutes in a cruiser with an officer.

Talk to law enforcement officers about how they feel about their job and observe what they do. Challenge yourself to look behind the curtain of law enforcement and expand your perceptions of the profession.

Then contact a local agency and ask, “Do you have a recruiting department?” Most agencies are actively recruiting new applicants. Recruiting is very challenging for law enforcement agencies and many are looking at creative ways to attract new people to the profession.

The last few years have resulted in a larger-than-normal exodus from the profession, and fewer candidates being attracted to law enforcement, making recruitment a priority for most agencies.

Talk to a recruiter and ask them: What are your standards for getting in? Do you have an academy? What do you provide? What’s the salary?

Salaries vary by region and often by state, but officers often make a good wage and can enter the profession without a college degree.  More importantly, law enforcement is an exciting and rewarding career.

If you’re someone that doesn’t want to sit in a cubicle, enjoys service-related fields, if you’re good at communication, likes solving problems, enjoys giving back to the community, and you have natural leadership tendencies, this is a job for you.

I suggest anyone interested in law enforcement not wait one single day to reach out to a local agency, do a ride-along and start talking to the people who do the job. Your profession and your future could be waiting.

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