On Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 3 p.m., Ballroom A of the Jackson State University Student Center was packed with citizens and supporters who came out for the Swearing-In Ceremony of Rebecca J. Coleman as the new Chief of Police for the City of Jackson.
“Coming Full Circle” was the theme for the commemorative swearing-in program. “Coming Full Circle means we have a little bit of the outside and a little bit of the inside in Chief Coleman,” said Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson.
Coleman started her law enforcement career in the Jackson Police Department (JPD). She later served as Jackson State University’s head of public safety and now she returns to JPD as chief of police.
The mayor was impressed with the great outpouring of people in attendance. He commented that he could not get “this many people out for my town meeting last night.”
“Chief Coleman is going to need more than just support from her family, and friends. She is going to need respect and support from the community citizens; she cannot do the job all by herself,” said Johnson.
Deputy Chief Lindsey Horton of JPD Administrative Support Division served as Master of Ceremonies. “Many people believe and put their trust in Coleman,” said Horton. “We follow Coleman because of what she brings to the table and her character, not just because of the badge she wears on her uniform.”
JSU President Ronald Mason also made remarks. He told how when he came aboard as president, Coleman decided to tender her resignation based on the tradition of new presidents generally bringing in their own people. He did not accept it. Then when he saw how well she handled the LaTasha Norman case, he knew he had made the right decision in keeping her. “She could handle the press. She could handle the national spotlight as well as I could without putting the university in a bad light,” Mason said.
Norman was a missing JSU student who was later found murdered as a result of domestic violence by her boyfriend, a former JSU student.
Coleman is a graduate of the 1975 police recruiting class – the seventh class in the history of the Jackson Police Academy. Since graduation, she has been working at the best of her abilities said those making comments about her career.
One of those commenting was JPD Retired Assistant Chief Edna Drake, who is currently chief of public safety at Tougaloo College. She described Coleman as her “bestest of friends.”
“Back in 1977, she had a great command presence and a strong fro (afro). When she entered a room, people knew that she had arrived,” she said.
Drake was a recruit under Coleman, who was a patrol officer at that time. She said her greatest fear was that one day she would be paired with Coleman, whose name was Willis then. One day it happened.
“When I got in the car, she said don’t touch anything, don’t say anything unless I ask you to,” Drake recalled. That was the beginning of a long-lasting relationship, she stated.
“Chief Rebecca Coleman represents the past, present, and brings a whole lot to the future for the City of Jackson,” Drake concluded.
Supreme Court Justice James Graves, assisted by her daughters Danielle and Dana Coleman, gave Chief Coleman the Oath of Office.
She was also presented a special gift unveiled by Manager of JPD Community Relations Linda Woolley. The gift was a framed pictorial composite of her now as the chief at the top and a photo of her 1975 recruit class at the bottom.
“I am speechless, but I want to say to everyone thank you, thank you, and thank you,” Coleman said. She also acknowledged the presence of those JPD officers, many now retired, who came along when she did. She also thanked the mayor for seeing the quality in her needed “to move JPD forward.”
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