Meet Officer Jacquelyn Jensen: “This Is What I Was Meant To Do”
From the time Jacquelyn Jensen was a child, the thought of becoming a police officer appealed to her.
“From the earliest things I remember, the feeling was always there,” she said.
Officer Jensen, a lifelong borough resident, is the first female on the Oakland police force in 20 years.
What meaningful moments in her life propelled her to a career in law enforcement?
As she thought back before answering, Detective Sgt. Mark Piercy stopped by the station’s conference room to say hello. After he left, Jensen recalled that she had attended the DARE Program while she was a student in the Oakland Middle School and that Piercy had spoken to her class about careers in law enforcement.
“I remember that talk and….‘Otto.’ Detective Piercy was an influencer,” in her career choice, she said. (“Otto the Auto” is an interactive remote controlled police car.)
After graduating from Indian Hills in 2013, she enrolled in William Paterson University and got a full-time job in sales with Harley-Davidson.
“I wanted to study law enforcement in college, but it occurred to me it would be more important to understand how people think, where they come from in life,” she explained. “My ability to communicate after majoring in psychology has been a huge advantage throughout my college years, and now in police work.”
After college graduation in 2017, Jensen worked in the Little Ferry Police Department as a dispatcher. She passed the State Civil Service test in November, 2019, was certified and submitted her test scores to Oakland. She recalls writing a letter to Richard Kunze, Oakland’s borough administrator, after receiving her scores to express her desire to serve Oakland.
She was hired in July, 2020, and began her training at the Bergen County Academy.
“The physical training at the academy does not take into account your gender,” Jensen said. “I navigated the obstacles, carried heavy weights, because it’s not about what you identify as or are born as, it’s about who you are.”
She started her job as an Oakland police officer on Christmas Eve, working the night shift.
Jensen recalled that “stormy and windy Christmas Eve” shift as “memorable.”
“My parents were proud and happy for me, and just a little nervous,” Jensen recalled. “And I spent my Christmas Day with my parents and my younger brother.”
Her father, a realtor and realty instructor, her mother, a health insurance agent, and her younger brother, a carpenter, still live in Oakland. On her days off, Jensen, an avid biker since her days as a Harley Davidson employee, goes on rides around the New Jersey countryside.
“I am so fortunate to have grown up in Oakland,” Jensen said. “It’s where I got my aspirations. I look forward to learning about the job, the programs and hope someday to be promoted up in the ranks.”