Kirksville native named new DPS director and chief of police

Kirksville native Chad Gooch was drawn to being a police officer as a way to serve the community he grew up in. After serving as a Truman State University police officer for nearly five years and several duties afterward, he is the new chief of police at the University and the new director of the Department of Public Safety. His duties began April 1. 

Before these new positions, his duties and roles have included being a SWAT team member, a field training officer, working for the Columbia police department and more. 

Some of Gooch’s responsibilities include leading the Department of Public Safety, building relationships with other divisions within the university, preparing for emergency responses and managing the university fleet. 

“I’m hoping to get settled in the next few months to see where we can look for opportunities to really build on our already established good reputation and service we provide, and really just establishing relationships throughout the Uuniversity,” Gooch said. 

One requirement for Gooch’s new roles was experience on a college campus. In his time with the Columbia police department, he was a liaison with the Mizzou campus police.

Level of experience within both city policing and campus policing was highly crucial to hiring.

“He’s seen it from the other side and had that experience and we thought that was really valuable,” said Tyana Lange, Vice President for Student Engagement and Marketing.

Gooch said he is enthusiastic about making the Truman police department as available to students as possible.

Right now, his priorities lie in reconnecting with the campus and making the Truman police department as available as possible.

“[I’m interested in] service back to the community,” Gooch said. “I was raised in Kirksville, and so that was a good opportunity for me to work with and for the citizens of Kirksville.”