One woman of color is dominating in a typical man’s profession, not too far from FAMU.
On Sept. 8, Kristi Cobb — a two-time alumna of FAMU — was sworn in as Midway’s first female police chief. This memorable event took place a month after her one-year anniversary of being named captain of Midway’s Police Department.
“I’m pleased that Midway has moved in the direction it has, in swearing in its first female police chief. It gives young girls another positive role model to look up to,” a Midway resident, Karisha Williams, said.
Cobb is the youngest of 10 siblings, eight girls and two boys to be exact. She grew up in the Tallahassee area and graduated from FAMU High School in 1993.
Cobb completed her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and in 1999 earned a master’s degree in social science with criminal justice from Florida A&M University.
While working as a probation officer in Tallahassee after graduation, Cobb decided to obtain her law enforcement certification in 2004.
After being a probation officer for 18 years, she transferred downtown to the main correction facility, where she worked in Compact Interstate.
During the time she worked as a probation officer and even after transferring, she worked as an overnight police officer for the Leon County Sheriff’s Office.
After Cobb got married, she moved to Midway — a small town on Highway 90 just west of Leon County — and joined the police department.
At that time Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell wanted all of his officers to live in Leon County.
In 2011, instead of moving to abide by Campbell’s rules, she decided to work part-time for the police department in Midway while still working for the Department of Corrections.
Fast forward to the year 2020: Midway hired a new police chief, who was not too familiar with the area, so Cobb was persuaded to leave the state after 22 years to work full time in Midway.
“I have collaborated with Chief Cobb for the past four months, and these past few months have been nothing less than amazing,” Ambernique O’Neal, the police department’s administrator assistant, said. “Chief Cobb is not only my boss, but a great inspiration.”
As the police chief, Cobb wants the department to become more transparent with the community. She has an open-door policy for all residents and wants them to feel welcome to come chat with her about any concerning issues, or just to talk at any time of the day.
She knows that Midway is a close-knit town, but also knows that crime can exist anywhere. Her top goal is to ensure that residents feel safe, and she is open to any ideas from the community that could enhance the community.
“It feels good to see a woman that looks like me leading our community, it’s empowering to see a Black woman in such a high position,” Jasmine Cotton, an employee for Midway’s city hall, said.
Cobb is open to networking with the different agencies in surrounding towns.
She said she does not want to be seen only as Midway’s police chief. She said she wants to be able to build bonds with all the surrounding communities.
“It’s amazing to become the first female police chief here in Midway,” Cobb said. “I want the younger generation of women to know, even though it may be a man dominate field, we can still rise to the top.”
She is ready to build Midway up, and wants to change the outlook of the police force.
Cobb believes that as long as she supports her community, they will support her.