COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - When future MU Police Lt. April Colbrecht arrived on MU’s campus in 1993, she parked illegally like any other lost and confused freshman.
“I moved out by myself with everything in my car,” she said. “I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was Jesse Hall had the big dome.”
She had no clue that day she moved away from home in Imperial, Missouri, and into her dorm that she would never leave the university.
Colbrecht, 43, has served with MU police for 20 years. She loves getting to know the community and mentoring students through her work, but parts of the job, like dealing with negative attitudes toward police, can be challenging.
However, bearing witness to cases of sexual assault and helping students who are struggling with their mental health has been the hardest part of the job. As a victim of sexual assault herself, she can relate on a deep level.
“I’ve been depressed before and it’s a heavy, heavy feeling,” she said. “To see someone else going through that is hard. You feel kind of helpless.”
One way she channels that experience is through her work as coordinator of MU police’s Rape Aggression Defense program, the Columbia Missourian reported. The R.A.D. course aims to empower women to feel safer through self-defense and prevention strategies. This year, MU police offered an additional session because so many women wanted to sign up - the result of rumors at the start of the semester about human trafficking in Columbia.
One of Colbrecht’s goals is to make people feel more capable and secure in themselves. For her, watching how strong women become throughout the course is gratifying.
She also sees herself as a mentor for college students who, away from home, begin to reckon with their sexual identity. A 2018 survey from the Human Rights Campaign found that 78 percent of LGBTQ teens have not come out to their parents because their parents have made negative comments about LGBTQ people. Colbrecht has been involved with MIZ-OUT, an organization on campus that supports people of gender and sexual minorities.
Colbrecht was disinclined to speak about her accomplishments. But Kristen Temple, who worked in residential life at MU for 26 years, has known Colbrecht since she was a freshman living in Graham Hall. Temple, 54, doesn’t hesitate in calling Colbrecht a true servant who is passionate about knowing her community.
Temple often worked alongside Colbrecht when cases arose in residence halls. Temple admires Colbrecht’s ability to listen - something she views as a rare skill. Colbrecht makes everyone feel important, she said.
“She was one of those officers that I could always call and say, ’There’s one room (with) a lot of people coming in and out…’” she said. “(Colbrecht) would do a ’knock-and-talk’ and use that as an opportunity to develop a relationship and get to know that student.”
Temple recalled an evening in the late ’90s where a student told her she’d been sexually assaulted. The student was deeply traumatized and didn’t want to talk. Temple knew exactly whom to call.
“When the student sat in front of April, (the student’s) body language went from being in knots to much more relaxed,” she said. “Even in that setting, in a sterile interview room, April was able to get that student to let her guard down.”
For Colbrecht, being such an invested officer can be exhausting. The expectation to solve issues quickly and move on can be difficult for her.
“It’s hard for me because I’m the type of personality that likes to be here all the time,” she said. “You want to follow up and do the best job for victims, but you have to be able to set boundaries of not doing work.”
Originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Colbrecht moved to the St. Louis area at age 6. She grew up in a single-parent household with three younger siblings, often taking on the caregiver role.
“My mom did the best she could to keep everybody’s heads above water,” she said. “We couldn’t afford to do a lot of things, so if something broke we fixed it ourselves. That shaped me for who I am: self-reliant.”
In her first year of college, Colbrecht commuted 250 miles round trip on weekends to work at a Burger King in Arnold, Missouri. As sophomore year approached and she became more acclimated at MU, she knew it was time to find a job on campus.
One day, Colbrecht and a friend were walking across campus and noticed a student in a uniform assigning parking tickets.
“My friend said, ’Hey, you could do that.’ So I did,” Colbrecht said.
For her next four years on campus, Colbrecht worked as a campus safety officer. She was a squad leader for three of those years, overseeing a group of safety officers. Although she was studying animal science at the university in hopes of becoming a veterinarian, reality intervened.
“The fact that I chose law enforcement I blame solely on chemistry class,” she said, laughing.
Working with animals in the lab also gave Colbrecht doubts about becoming a veterinarian. She realized she might be too squeamish for the job.
“There are some things I just knew I couldn’t do,” she said, “Like putting down pets. I’d be crying too hard.”
It was time to choose a new career path. She drew on her history of caring for others and her experience as a campus safety officer. And that’s how she became an officer for MU police post-graduation in 1998.
From day one on the job, Colbrecht felt at home. She said MU Police Department’s community-policing approach, which is based on relationship-building, translates into the relationships between officers as well, she said.
“I have a family and love my family,” she said. “But these guys are my family in blue, and we take care of each other.”
Along with the strong bond the officers have with each other, Colbrecht especially likes the university atmosphere where she can mentor students as she once mentored her younger siblings.
Chief of MU Police Doug Schwandt has worked with Colbrecht since he first started at the department 18 years ago. He supported her promotion from supervisor to lieutenant in 2013. Since then, he has had no second thoughts.
“April shows a great deal of common sense, patience and compassion,” he said, “Day in and day out, she exemplifies MUPD’s philosophy: We are part of the academic mission of our university.”
R.A.D. is Colbrecht’s favorite course to teach. Along with other instructors, she simulates various attacks and self-defense strategies when teaching the course. The class is high-energy and noisy, with women shouting “No!” and “Stay back!”
During an attack simulation in a recent class, an instructor locked his arms around Colbrecht and yelled, “What is a straight kick, April?”
Colbrecht responded while demonstrating, “Pointed toe, and kick him in the ding ding!”
Jennifer Mantle, 51, who is a business support specialist for MU Health, completed the R.A.D. course recently. She’s a rape survivor, and though it happened decades ago, she said there isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t think about it, she said.
“(The class) made me feel more confident in my abilities if an attacker ever tries to rape me again,” she said. “It took me back to when I was raped, and got me thinking about what I could have done.”
Mantle said she now thinks of Colbrecht as a friend.
“She did a phenomenal job teaching the class,” Mantle said. “Every woman should take the course. I can’t stress that enough.”
Colbrecht and her wife, Kristen, have been married for almost two years. Originally from Michigan, Kristen, 31, moved to Columbia in 2011 and has worked in the MU International Center ever since.
“I love April - everything about her,” Kristen Colbrecht said. “Her humor, personality and the love that she shows all people.”
When Kristen first came to MU, she and Colbrecht became friends immediately. She could tell Colbrecht was genuine.
“She was just so welcoming and warm and compassionate,” she said. “From there it was like I just want to be your best friend.”
Kristen said their wedding day was the best day of her life, with family and friends showing love and support. It was also the first time Colbrecht had missed working a home MU football game in more than 20 years.
Colbrecht is grateful for the respect and acceptance she’s experienced at the MU Police Department. Closed-minded officers don’t last long, and most are even weeded out before they have a chance to try, she said.
“I didn’t come out of the closet until 2002,” Colbrecht said. “I was worried about how that might be received, but with everyone here (at MU Police) it wasn’t any different.”
Colbrecht grew up in Lutheran schools and didn’t always feel accepted as a gay person. If she could give her younger self a piece of advice from the future, it’d be to “hang in there.”
“High school for me was awful,” she said. “I struggled with being gay in an environment that tells you you’re going to hell every day.”
Colbrecht wishes she would’ve known that there are many good people who are gay, and it’s OK to be who you are.
Colbrecht has seen a lot of things change in the 20 years that she’s been a police officer, but one change that bothers her more than others is what she feels is an increasingly negative perception of police officers. She sees the 24-hour news cycle as a contributor.
“Nobody wants to hear about the good stuff,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what profession you are in, there will always be people who should not be in that profession.”
Colbrecht reminds herself that the people she comes in contact with are all going through their own struggles, so she strives to be empathetic, even when people are hostile.
“You can sit at a stoplight, look over at the person in the car next to you and know that they are dealing with their own issues,” she said.
If there was one thing she could change, it would be the abuse of alcohol MU police witness on a nightly basis.
“Some of the most devastating things I’ve seen - alcohol has been a part of,” she said. “Most of the rape and sexual assault cases that we have here on campus - alcohol is involved in some way, shape or form.”
On the days she just wants to quit the job, she goes out into the community and talks to people.
“I go out and teach and have positive interactions,” she said. “And when I’m done I can walk away and say ’Yeah, this is why I do what I do.”
___
Information from: Columbia Missourian, http://www.columbiamissourian.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.