Newark police officer reinvents herself as social worker
Jeri McQueen left force to help people on a more personal level

By Karen Ayres Smith

As a Newark police officer, Jeri McQueen chased down suspects and tackled the drug problem on the streets. But in more than 13 years on the job, the Newark native also got a firsthand look at the very personal dramas – addictions, financial worries, and emotional problems – that unfold behind the scenes in the inner city.

“It was an eye opener for me,” McQueen said. “I really got to see a lot of the mainstream human condition that existed. A lot of times people don’t know who to turn to.”

As much as McQueen loved her job, she knew that pursuing her longtime dream of earning a college degree would allow her to help people on a more personal level. So the single mother, now 40, enrolled in Essex County College and then Rutgers–Newark to study social work.

Eight years later, the eldest of six children is the first in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree.

“All I want to do is make someone else’s situation that seems helpless just a bit more bearable,” McQueen said. “That’s where my passion comes through. As people go through situations, they don’t have to go through them alone.”

Growing up in Newark, McQueen says that she was a bit sheltered. Her father, himself a Newark police officer, and her mother, who worked with disabled people in New York City, set strict rules. While other children played outside on summer nights, McQueen, her two sisters and three brothers were inside and out of trouble.

“My father was always pushing books in my face,” she said.

Still, by the time she graduated from Mother Seton Regional High School in Clark, McQueen was more excited about getting a job than going to college. A year at South Carolina State University didn’t work out, so McQueen returned to Newark and decided to join her brother in taking the exam to become a police officer. He failed; She passed. (He later passed and has spent 18 years as a police officer in New York.)

With the money too good to pass up, McQueen joined the force and quickly saw the poverty and other problems plaguing Newark. Shy at first, she slowly got used to mediating disputes on the street and responding to calls at people’s homes. In fact, she grew to love it.

“I really enjoyed interacting with people,” McQueen said. “There was nothing like being in the streets and seeing it firsthand.”

But after having her daughter, L’Oreal, McQueen felt a pull back to the classroom. Social work seemed like the perfect match.

“Even though I was enjoying what I was doing, I always believed within me that I should earn some degrees while I am here on this earth,” she said.

McQueen enrolled in Essex County in 2001, taking classes part time while juggling motherhood and her job as a police officer. She took breaks after her father died and again when an engagement broke apart, but she became only more determined to get her degree. By 2003, she had quit the police department to go to school full time, becoming president of a student social work organization at Essex County.

After graduating with an associate’s degree in applied science, McQueen received a scholarship to attend Rutgers in 2007 and quickly became involved in the Rutgers–Newark University College Student Social Work Organization (UC-SWSO). She served as president this year.

“If I’m going to come to school, I want to experience everything college life has to offer me, even as a commuter student,” McQueen said. “I made it my business to get involved.”

She also made it her business to get good grades, racking up a 3.97 grade-point average. McQueen said that she hopes her dedication to her coursework sets a strong example for her daughter. L’Oreal, now 16, attends St. George’s School, a private boarding school in Rhode Island, on a full scholarship.

“It’s good for her to watch me maneuver my college years, as she does it on a high school level,” McQueen said. “One thing I’ve always told her is that whatever level I achieve with my degree, she has to match that.”

L’Oreal may be in for some hard work. McQueen has already received a scholarship to attend New York University in the fall to study for a master’s degree in social work. She hopes to pursue a doctorate afterward.

She hasn’t yet narrowed down what type of social work she wants to pursue, but McQueen knows one thing: It will definitely be in the inner city.

“I definitely try to be a catalyst to bring a little sunshine to somebody,” McQueen said. “I’m extremely excited, because for me this is just the beginning.”