Meet the Chief
With over two decades of police experience, Sherry St. Clair was named Chief of the West Virginia University Police Department in October 2021.
For more information visit: emergency.wvu.edu
With over two decades of police experience, Sherry St. Clair was named Chief of the West Virginia University Police Department in October 2021.
Meet Sherry St. Clair, WVU's newest and first female police chief! Committed to keeping our campus safe for over two decades, she'll continue to lead the WVU Police Department, serve our campus community and connect with our Mountaineer family.
Chief St. Clair has dedicated the entirety of her career to serving our campus community through several roles at the University Police Department.
Serving as the first female Chief of the University Police Department, she has goals to engage with the students, faculty and staff who call WVU home.
Community policing initiatives are a top priority for Chief St. Clair, providing officers with the ability to connect with our community in everyday scenarios. By taking a proactive approach to policing and immersing the department into broader campus life, Chief St. Clair hopes officers are familiar faces on campus and a group that people feel comfortable approaching with anything they need.
As an involved member of our campus community, Chief St. Clair serves on several committees to address the needs and concerns of a variety of University groups. She is a member of the WVU CARE Team, which is a cross-functional team that helps at-risk students access support and assistance. She also is a member of the WVU Public Safety Advisory Committee, the Monongalia County Sexual Assault Response Team and the WVU Pedestrian Safety Committee, among other groups.
Chief St. Clair began her career at the University Police Department in 1994 as a Housing Officer. She became a midnight shift Officer in 1997 and was promoted to Sergeant in 2002. Promoted again in 2006, she served as Lieutenant and supervised all patrol, enforcement and community services on her shifts.
Chief St. Clair transitioned to the Investigations unit in 2014, and in 2018, she was named Captain. She oversaw the Investigations, Evidence and Communications Center teams and managed relationships with liaisons across the University. At the time, she was the first female Captain at the University Police Department.
Chief St. Clair graduated from the West Virginia State Police Academy in 1995 with her Law Enforcement Officer Certification. In 1997, she graduated from Fairmont State College (now Fairmont State University) with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. To further hone her skills, Chief St. Clair has completed several training and certification programs over the course of her career. She also attended Penn State’s nationally recognized Police Executive Development training program in 2021.