STAR CITY, W.Va. – The Town Council of Star City swore in its first female police chief during their council meeting Tuesday night.
Jessica Colebank received the oath to Star City and is now the newly named chief of police. Colebank said she’s wanted to be the chief of police for a long time. She added that she’s excited to bring Star City forward to a new era.
“I’ve been in first responder services for 20 years now. I started as a police dispatcher at 19 years old in Fairmont. I grew up around it. My dad is also in law enforcement. He’s done 40 plus years. So, I have always been around it. It has always been a dream for me,” Colebank said.
Colebank said she has big shoes to fill and that she looks forward to accomplishing many new things with community involvement and community awareness as a top priority.
“You have a college town where you have an influx of new people every single year that don’t know the roads, they don’t know the speed limits, they don’t know the laws here, and everything else. So, it’s our job to educate them to make a safe environment for everyone,” Colebank said.
Chief Colebank added that each police department is short of officers, and she hopes to soon have those positions filled with willing candidates. She also had words of advice for young girls and women looking for careers in law enforcement.
“Don’t give up, this job is very rewarding, and especially for females we give a different perspective, we’re much more nurturing than men usually. There is plenty out there that is the same as us, but we give a different perspective in this job overall,” Colebank said. “Usually, we’re able to talk people down more and communicate better, women love to communicate. So, it’s definitely a plus in this job, that is 95% of what we do is just communication.”