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Pembroke police chief named to international committee
Randy Alexander
Pembroke Police Chief Randy Alexander.

Pembroke Police Chief Randy Alexander knows what “hooah” means, having served nearly two decades in the Army as an infantryman before beginning a second career in civilian law enforcement.
Now he’s getting an opportunity to serve both worlds.
Alexander is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s Civil Law Enforcement-Military Cooperation Committee. He will be on the committee through the end of the IACP’s 2020 annual conference.
As part of his responsibilities, Alexander will be “serving as a subject matter expert from whom the IACP leadership and staff can draw advice, strategic insights and technical expertise,” according to a letter from IACP President Louis Dekmar announcing Alexander’s appointment.
Not bad for the police chief of a department of eight police officers, including one who is deployed to Afghanistan, and two civilians.
“This is a huge honor for me,” said Alexander, a former infantry NCO who saw combat in Iraq. “Without the support of the citizens, the mayor and council, this would not have been possible. It’s an honor to serve this community.”
Alexander began his career in law enforcement in 2006 when he was hired by Guyton city council to start a police department. He was named police chief in Pembroke in 2015, moving closer to Fort Stewart and its 3rd Infantry Division.
“We are very much a community-oriented police department,” Alexander said. “And we highly respect and support the military community. Our mayor and council are very proud to have a military community be so much a part of Pembroke.”
City leaders frequently laud the ties that bind Pembroke to Fort Stewart, and it’s a closeness in proximity as well. Pembroke sits on the border of Fort Stewart’s northern boundary and is the first town drivers on Highway 119 enter after leaving the post. There are a number of soldiers, retirees and veterans living in the city.
“We work closely with the military on a daily basis,” Alexander said. “We also have contact with military members who live in Pembroke, and having served myself and also having an officer who is serving right now in Afghanistan, I understand the importance of working closely with the military community.”

Though he had other military occupational experiences during his time in the Army, Alexander spent 17 years in the infantry. He believes the experience, along with his time in civilian law enforcement, will benefit the IACP, both the civilian and military communities and could also pay dividends for Pembroke.

“Through my work on the committee, I’ll be letting the military community at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield know we are a very welcoming city for employment, housing and business,” Alexander said.

And despite serving a small community with a population of only 2,484 in one 2016 estimate, Alexander’s appointment to a leadership role in the 22,000-member IACP didn’t surprise the head of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.

“It is clear to me for years that you are a true law enforcement leader so there was no doubt that another astute leader, Lou Dekmar, asked you to be part of such an important IACP committee,” said an email to Alexander from Frank Rotondo, the GACP executive director.

Alexander said his appointment “out of 22,000 chiefs of police internationally means the world to me,” he said. “It’s huge to my heart.”

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