Our Alumni: Shelley Zimmerman

In 2014, Shelley Zimmerman made history when she was named San Diego’s first female chief of police. On March 1, 2018, Zimmerman officially retired her post, completing a 35-year policing career that began, rather serendipitously, in 1982.

“I never could have predicted that my journey would have taken me into the field of policing and to San Diego,” said Zimmerman. “It was a football game that changed my life.”

In 1980, Zimmerman attended the Rose Bowl and watched as her beloved Buckeyes lost to USC. While the loss was devastating, a side trip to San Diego helped assuage the pain. And it transformed her life.

“I returned to Ohio State and after graduating, jumped on a plane with only $200 dollars, one suitcase and my guitar and headed to San Diego. When I got off the plane, I didn’t know anyone, didn’t have a job — I didn’t even have a place to stay.”

Zimmerman’s father was a trial attorney in her hometown of Cleveland, so she considered following in his footsteps. But she needed a job first to help pay for law school. She applied to become a San Diego police officer.

“From day one, I fell in love with being a police officer,” she said. “What I fell in love with was the opportunity to make a positive difference in someone’s life every single day.”

Zimmerman worked many of the San Diego Police Department’s patrol commands, as well as Vice, Narcotics, Internal Affairs, Multi-Cultural Community Relations Office, the Mayor’s Executive Protection Detail, the Narcotics Task Force and the Field Lieutenant position. And she called upon her experience and training in sociology to help navigate those jobs.

“My entire Ohio State experience helped me as a police officer and then as an administrator,” Zimmerman said. “Police work is not just about responding and reacting to crime. It is about figuring out why and then preventing the why. This is where the study of sociology is very valuable. Not everyone reacts the same to similar situations.” Zimmerman reflected on the classes she took as a sociology student, sharing different viewpoints and opinions with classmates and professors.

“Having a civil dialogue is what our country is all about. I remember numerous sociology classes where we exchanged different experiences and opinions and worked hard to find common ground. I used those lessons in my career by giving as many stake holders as possible a seat at the table.”

The journey of life — like Zimmerman’s — rarely follows a straight line; there are always twists and turns. Zimmerman believes that now, more than ever, law enforcement needs sociology graduates.

“Today’s law enforcement professionals have to be more complete in their capabilities and more global in their perspective in order to succeed in keeping our communities safe.” sociology.osu.edu | 17