Chief Jim Gilbert grew up in Cincinnati and comes from a law enforcement family. His father is a retired Cincinnati Police Specialist and his brother is a current Cincinnati Police Officer. He was an Explorer with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. He was a Firefighter/EMT with the Miami Township Fire Dept. He graduated the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy in 1993. He worked and attended classes at the College of Mt. St. Joseph. He worked as a police officer at the Miami University in Oxford, Ohio until he was hired at the Columbus Division of Police in 1996. He worked almost his entire career on 3rd shift assigned to the 11th Precinct. In 2006 he was elected as President of the Fraternal Order of Police-Capital City Lodge #9 a position he held for 6 years.
In 2007 He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. While at CPD he received many awards & commendations; which included 2 Chief's Special Commendations, The Blue Star, The Medal of Merit, 2 separate Officer of the Year Awards, the MADD TOP COP Award, Central Ohio Crime Stoppers Officer of the Year, The Ohio Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award, and a FCSO Certificate of Merit. He served on the Honor Guard, Officer Support Team, State FOP CISM Team, FTO, CIT Member and guest academy instructor. He has extensive training in critical incident response and on numerous occasions has been a requested speaker on the topic. He retired from CPD on Jan. 1, 2013 and was hired at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office at the rank of Major on Jan. 2, 2013. He was promoted to the rank of Chief Deputy on Feb. 10, 2014. He is very passionate about the profession of law enforcement and his leadership style is to "lead from the front". He currently commands over 175 sworn and civilian employees in the Patrol Bureau.
Chief Gilbert is still very active with the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9 and serves on the Executive Board as the Immediate Past President. He is a member of Ohio Concerns of Police Survivors, a member of the Ohio State FOP Critical Incident Response Mid-Ohio Team, a member of the National Sheriff's Association, Buckeye State Sheriff's Association, Ohio Chiefs of Police Association, Franklin County Chiefs of Police Association, Franklin County EMA Board member, and is active in his community as a little league baseball coach. Chief Gilbert is a graduate of the Ohio State University John Glenn College of Public Affairs, Public Safety Leadership Academy Class #3. He is married and has four children.
Units under Patrol