- Published:
- Friday 24 July 2026 at 2:00 pm
| Senior Sergeant Jess Reynolds at Geelong Police Station. |
Senior Sergeant Jess Reynolds first started with Victoria Police at just 16 years old.
After spending five days at Geelong Police Station for a work experience placement, she knew policing was the job for her.
But what she didn’t know was that 28 years later, she would end up back where her passion for policing started.
A career inspired early
“I had some family members that were police members – my aunt and uncle – so ever since I was about 12 years old, I knew I wanted to join,” Sen Sgt Reynolds said.
“But when I was in year 10, I chose to do work experience at my local police station, just to be sure. And after a week at Geelong, I was certain that policing was the career for me.”
Two years later, at 18 years old, Sen Sgt Reynolds applied to the force, and within six months, she started at the Academy.
“The classroom setting, exams and keeping to a routine wasn’t too dissimilar to the structure of school,” Sen Sgt Reynolds said.
“I also lived in, at the Academy, and that was my first experience out of home – so recruit life was pretty good.”
On graduation day, she was joined by her parents and siblings, as well as her aunty and uncle, who had graduated on the Academy’s hallowed grounds 30 years earlier.
“It was a really, really special day and I can still remember it like it was yesterday,” Sen Sgt Reynolds said.
Following her graduation, Sen Sgt Reynolds started her police career in Keilor Downs, then spent a year at Melbourne West Police Station before moving into a specialist role.
“After working at Melbourne West, I spent three years with the Melbourne Sex Offences and Child Abuse Unit (SOCAU),” she said.
“I then worked in Corio for about five years, the Geelong Divisional Response Unit for a year after that, then prosecutions in Melbourne, where I stayed for nine years.”
Finding her calling
It was with Melbourne Prosecutions that Sen Sgt Reynolds was promoted to the rank of sergeant and undertook one of her favourite roles so far.
“Prosecutions was a very challenging role, but also very rewarding,” Sen Sgt Reynolds said.
“Having previously been fully operational and out on the road for 12 years, it provided me with a great work-life balance while I had my children.”
After several years working in prosecutions, Sen Sgt Reynolds became the manager of Melbourne’s Sex Offences Prosecutions Team.
It was this role in particular, paired with her experience in Melbourne SOCAU, that cemented her interest in working with survivors of family violence and sexual assault.
“Working with sexual assault and family violence survivors has been some of the most rewarding work I’ve performed in my career,” Sen Sgt Reynolds said.
“Being able to support survivors through to the end of their cases, I felt like I was really making a difference.”
But in 2022, Sen Sgt Reynolds decided to try something completely different, and took up a promotion within the force’s Corporate Strategy and Governance division.
“I was promoted to the role of senior sergeant in the Central Assurance Team at the Victoria Police Centre, where I assisted in the strategic planning and development of Victoria Police’s three-year internal audit plan,” she said.
While she enjoyed the change of pace, after two years, Sen Sgt Reynolds decided to explore positions at stations closer to home.
And sure enough, in 2024, she landed back in Geelong – where her policing career began 28 years ago.
Returning to her roots
“I started out in the role of the Divisional Support Manager then, for close to a year, worked as the Staff Officer to Western Region’s Assistant Commissioner, before coming full circle and starting as officer in charge of Geelong Police Station," she said.
When asked whether much had changed since she first stepped into the station as a teenager, Sen Sgt Reynolds said that “the station and people have changed significantly”.
Yet upon her return, she was met with several familiar faces, who turned out to be members she had met decades earlier.
“A few members I met when I was 16 are still working at Geelong,” she said.
“They don’t remember me – but I remember them!”
In such a familiar environment, it didn’t take long for Sen Sgt Reynolds to settle in.
And just three months into the role, she has already hit the ground running.
“We’re a great team here at Geelong Police Station and we do our absolute best to keep the community safe,” Sen Sgt Reynolds said.
“Over the recent school holidays, we did a lot of work focusing on anti-social behaviour and youth crime, which received a lot of positive feedback from the community.
“Running a police station is a big task with a lot of challenges. Something different happens every day, and it’s never boring.”
When reflecting on her career to date, Sen Sgt Reynolds acknowledged she started younger than many, and that for some, getting life experience before joining the force can be beneficial.
But for Sen Sgt Reynolds, applying straight out of school felt natural.
“It was always the path I was going to take,” she said.
And 28 years later, she wouldn’t change a thing.
“I’m not leaving anytime soon, and I can see myself staying in the job until I retire,” Sen Sgt Reynolds said.
“The force has always been good to me, and I’ve had a really enjoyable career.
“I’ve still got a lot more to give and am looking forward to spending as many years as I can here in Geelong.”
Editorial Lane Mihaljevic
Photography Geelong Police Station
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