Officer Jacobson: Working His Dream Job

Some people have always known what their dream job will be. Officer Derek Jacobson figured out his dream job  when there were red and blue lights flashing in his rear view mirror.

“Becoming a police officer really turned my life around for the better. I don’t think I would’ve finished high school or become a police officer if I wasn’t pulled over by a police officer.”

What that officer said to me that day is still my favorite quote, “You are better than what you are currently putting out.” This inspired me to aim for my full potential and become a police officer.

Before Officer Jacobson ever became an officer he was in the Navy for 4 years. Being in the Navy paid for his college so he could become a police officer. In the Navy he worked on catapults and slow down wires on aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk CV 63.

After the Navy, Officer Jacobson was a corrections officer at Sherburne County Jail for 9 years, while he was there he went through police training at Hennepin Tech Law Enforcement Center.

Before becoming an officer at Buffalo he was part of the Maple Grove Police for 6 months. The reason being that he just didn’t like working there.

Officer Jacobson was on patrol originally at Buffalo before becoming the SRO (school resource officer) at Buffalo High School. The previous SRO, Josh,  was going to move down to the middle school and asked Officer Jacobson if he wanted to fill in as the High School SRO. Officer Jacobson simply asked, “Do they still serve the turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy?” He said “Yes” and I said “I’m in”.

Nowadays, he starts his morning bright and early at 5:00 am so he can get to work and start his day. School isn’t his first stop though. The first thing he does is go to the police station to get his briefing and organize all of his supplies. He usually arrives at the school around 8:00 a.m.

“I wear a lot of different hats” when referring to his day-to-day schedule. This does not mean he likes to wear lots of hats, this means that he fills a lot of different roles at the school.

Officer Jacobson has a lot of different responsibilities at the school. “A misconception about my job is that it’s all disciplinary work, but in reality only about 25% of what I do is disciplinary.” “I spend a decent amount of time helping out teachers with whatever they may need.” ” Jacobson stated. An example being talking to health classes or helping science classes by using the speed gun.

Officer Jacobson despite being an official, trained police officer still does training with Buffalo Police to make sure whatever police skills he may need are always fine tuned. “I still have lots of training days with the police station. I spend lots of time going over police skills that I may need.”

Officer Jacobson is a good example of someone who set his mind towards a goal and worked for it.