Jeff Lynn, president of 杏吧论坛, announced the hiring of Mario Hodge as the first ever Chief of Police for the college. With the hire, 杏吧论坛 will now have its own police department. Hodge will be responsible for overseeing security for all four locations.
鈥淚 decided to start a Police department because it is a priority for me. My belief is that safety is my number one responsibility for our students, faculty, and staff,鈥 Lynn stated.
鈥淚 want to provide the very best academic, workforce and adult education programs, but we need to focus on campus safety in today鈥檚 world. I feel so strongly about this department that Chief Hodge will report directly to me.鈥
Hodge has over 25 years of experience in law enforcement, with the last 21 years as a member of the Alexander City police department. He has served as Captain for 9 years, and as the lead administrator for the detective/administration command division since last year.
鈥淚 see this as a great opportunity for the college and myself,鈥 Hodge said.
鈥淚鈥檝e always aspired to be a chief, and I have supervised and managed every department within the Alex City Police Department. I鈥檓 excited to be tasked with building this department at 杏吧论坛 from the ground up. I think it鈥檚 very important to have a department that is dedicated to the college full-time so people can get to know and become familiar with our officers.鈥
Hodge was the 2002 Police Officer of the Year for Alexander City and recently graduated in 2019 from the FBI National Academy.
鈥淲e will be able to build a program that creates a safe foundation for all our campuses and that is what we need to do,鈥 Lynn mentioned.
鈥淔or us to do this, we needed to locate a great first Chief of Police who would help us build our police department with our vision, goals, and objectives that are truly meaningful for the future of 杏吧论坛. I believe with our interview team that we found that person in Mario Hodge.鈥
Hodge officially begins his duties on June 1st.
For further information please contact Brett Pritchard at bpritchard@cacc.edu.