New South Roxana Police Officer Chralene O’Dell

SOUTH ROXANA - Chralene O’Dell, one of two latest hires for the South Roxana Police Department, comes with high aspirations for the new position. For O’Dell, the job is “a dream come true.” She said for many years, she wanted to be a full-time post as a police officer.

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O’Dell, 29, said everyone in South Roxana and her department from Police Chief Bob Coles and the other officers has been very welcoming to her and embraced her with open arms. She said so far officers from surrounding towns in Roxana, Hartford, etc., have also been very accommodating. She was sworn into her new post on January 4, 2022.

“I am very excited for South Roxana to hire our first female police officer,” South Roxana Police Chief/City Administrator Bob Coles said. “I think Charlie will be an excellent addition to our department and look forward to training and providing guidance for her to excel at the job and make this her forever home.

“After Charlie's appointment, we had a police department meeting, which was interrupted by our officer-involved shooting where we left Charlie and her family at the police department by themselves. I ended up calling her later in the night to make sure she was still on board with her appointment knowing ten minutes after being sworn in our agency was handling shots fired calls and wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting herself into. Charlie assured me she was up for the task and was not deterred by it.”

O’Dell is a fully certified police officer after attending SWIC in Belleville. She said: “This is the best job I have ever had. I grew up poor in a very bad neighborhood and had to work my way to get where I am now. I struggled as a kid to live in a trailer park and I didn't have the nicest lifestyle growing up but I worked my butt off to be where I am now providing for my three children.”

O’Dell said she thinks her childhood experiences help her relate to people who are impoverished and just trying to make ends meet.

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“I have been there and seen what people go through, so I think it helps me as a police officer,” she said.

D.A.R.E. officers may not always know the impact they have on children, but O’Dell said her Granite City Police D.A.R.E. officer inspired her to want to be a police officer.

“The D.A.R.E. officer helped me when no one else could to see there was light outside the environment I was living in at the time, “ she said. “He inspired me to a better way of life. That is why I have become a police officer."

The new South Roxana Police officer is completely committed to exercising and healthy living. She works out five days a week.

“I think officer health and fitness is a top priority,” she said. “I am 5-foot-2 and I have to be able to hold my own in any situation. Healthy living also helps you to have good heart health and live longer physically.”

O’Dell closed by saying, “This is my dream job to start as a police officer. I want to make the best of it.”

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