Asheville Police Chief To Speak at Mars Hill University

November 6, 2018

Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper will visit Mars Hill University on Tuesday, November 13, 2018. Her presentation, “Issues in Policing,” will be held at 9:30 a.m. in Belk Auditorium. She will discuss her education and career path, her ideas about the various models of policing, priorities for the Asheville Police Department, and what, if any, barriers she faced in policing because of her gender. Chief Hooper’s visit is sponsored by the MHU criminal justice department.

Hooper became the first female chief of police with the Asheville Police Department in July of 2015. Prior to her arrival, she served 26 years in Alexandria, Virginia, where she retired as the deputy chief of police. During her tenure in Alexandria, she served in command positions in every bureau of the department, including patrol, administration, and investigations. Hooper is a graduate of George Mason University, the FBI National Academy, the Senior Management Institute for Police at Boston University, and the Professional Executive Leadership School at the University of Richmond.

During her tenure in Asheville, Chief Hooper has led the department through the realignment of patrol districts, reorganization of the department’s structure, revision or replacement of two thirds of all APD policies and procedures, assignment of additional officers to the downtown patrol, and implementation of new training and development opportunities for officers and commanders.