GC’s recently appointed Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety, Wesley Hardin, has now spent his first two months working to foster a better relationship between GC police and students.
Starting his adult life as a basketball player overseas, he came back home and wanted to be a state trooper but says he decided against pursuing this because he does not like their hats.
When he got the offer in September 2023 to work for GC, Hardin was excited to return back to Georgia after his two-year tenure at Tallahassee Community College, or TCC.
“There were several reasons,” Hardin said. “One was because it was coming home. That never hurts, being able to come home.”
With 29 years of law enforcement work under his belt and a majority of his time working in Georgia, Hardin has held positions such as Lieutenant for the City of Doraville, Motor Officer for the City of Lawrenceville and Student Resource officer for Gwinnett County Public Schools. In these positions, he spent time protecting the people of various cities and around 180,000 students throughout Gwinnett County Public Schools.
At his previous position as Chief of Police at TCC, Hardin and his team worked to keep over 12,000 students safe. Through his time here, he understands the dynamics of a college campus and how best to work with the students and faculty, which he is working to implement at GC.
Having officially joined the GC family on Dec. 1, 2023, Hardin has had time to settle in and get to work on improving the Department of Public Safety here at GC.
“What I really want to do is build the department up to where we are so ingrained and so a part of the culture and the campus community that when you see us police officers, police uniforms, you do not think, ‘Oh, there’s the police,’” Hardin said. “You just think, ‘Oh, that’s Chief Hardin.’ It gives us the opportunity to get out and talk to the students and meet with the students, put on presentations and put on classes.”
Hardin has started working on this by implementing the Primary Alternate Contingency Emergency Program, or PACE, which he explains is a way to “cross-train” his officers.
“I want to take every duty and responsibility that we have at the police department and, instead of having all that institutional knowledge tied up in one officer, I like to have three or four officers that can do everything,” Hardin said. “That way, if somebody’s out, if somebody’s sick, we don’t have to put the department on hold because we only have one person who can do it.”
Hardin also has got his team together to create a new mission statement for the Department of Public Safety that better represents what they hope to achieve.
“The mission of Georgia College & State University’s Department of Public Safety is to partner with our community of faculty, staff and students, dedicated to educating, protecting and serving the university through collaborative and innovative efforts,” Hardin said. “We strive to create and maintain a safe and secure learning environment, fostering a culture of well-being, trust and respect for all, providing selfless service to all above all else.”
Hardin has also helped to start an Officer and Career Development Program for his team to help with career growth. He intends to help them find their “why” and keep them true to that “why.”
“They’re [GC’s officers] still learning and still growing because you got to have a growth mindset,” Hardin said. “It prevents burnout; it keeps you growing; it keeps you young; it keeps you moving forward.”
Some of the things Hardin wants to bring to GC are classes like Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events, or CRASE, Rape Aggression Defense, or RAD, self-defense and sex trafficking to keep the students and faculty informed and safe both while on campus and when they leave campus. He wants to offer classes that students want and is happy to help put these classes on.
Hardin also wants people to know a little bit more about him.
“The biggest thing about me professionally is that I take my job seriously, but I do not take myself too seriously,” Hardin said. “I am loyal to a fault most of the time. I am in a place that I wanted to be, not just looking for a job and that I’d very much like for this to be my last job. I am always continuing to try to educate myself, to learn and grow.”
Hardin loves being outside and walking his dog, and you might even catch him riding his motorcycle around town, so keep an eye out for him on campus and be sure to say hello!
