Dr. Booker Hodges is a law enforcement professional who has worked as a school resource officer, patrol deputy, narcotics detective, S.W.A.T. operator, patrol overnight watch commander, inspector, Undersheriff, Acting Chief Deputy, and Chief of Police. He has overseen Training, Human Resources, Fleet, Professional Standards, and Technology units. He currently serves as the Chief of Police for the City of Bloomington, Minnesota Police Department, which has an authorized staff of 123 sworn officers and a total staff of 157. He was previously the Assistant Commissioner of Law Enforcement for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, where he was responsible for overseeing 1,400 employees and a budget over $225 million dollars, encompassing the Minnesota State Patrol, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and Minnesota Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement. Dr. Hodges spent time at the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, and the Prior Lake Police Department.
Dr. Hodges is the only active police officer in the history of the NAACP to serve as a branch president. During his five-year tenure as president of the Minneapolis NAACP, he was responsible for a landmark agreement to improve working conditions for employees of color and to diversify the Minneapolis Park Board. During his time with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, he was responsible for the hiring that led to the Ramsey County Jail becoming the first minority-majority staffed correctional facility in the state of Minnesota.
Dr. Hodges is also a sought-after national speaker on the topics of unconscious bias and recruiting/retention of twenty-first century workforces. Dr. Hodges earned a doctorate degree in Public Administration from Hamline University, a master’s degree from Saint Mary’s University, and a bachelor’s degree from Florida Southern College. His experience in community relations and law enforcement are unique and have given him a dual perspective on current events surrounding the law enforcement profession. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and President of the Northstar Chapter of the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
“I really want to express my appreciation for this work that’s been done in a collaborative way in which the study was put together. . . . I’ve seen a number of studies start in the fire department and this is the first one I can remember that has actually been fully completed and brought to the council, and it was done in a very thorough fashion. This is the best assemblage of comprehensive information about the fire department today, as well as what our needs might be in the future, that I have seen. So thanks to everyone. Thank you, Stewart, for giving us our money’s worth on our consultant contract with you.”
City Manager City of San Luis Obispo
“I am really, really impressed. I am impressed at the exhaustiveness of your study, impressed at the honesty and candor with which you expressed your findings; I am very impressed at the constructive tone of it, and that you came in under budget as well. So, thank you very much. I think that this document is going to be a cornerstone for us really moving forward for the next five, ten, twenty [years], half a century.”
Salt Lake City Council Meeting
“I wanted to offer my compliments to Citygate, to Mr. Gary for this very comprehensive report.”
San Luis Obispo Council Member
“I really, really enjoyed reading your Word product. I appreciate the fact that it was direct, it was constructive, and . . . it wasn’t finger-pointing, it was just . . . the facts. And I think that the money was well spent.”
Salt Lake City Council Meeting
“Thank you very much for a comprehensive report. Thank you.”
Palm Springs
“I was absolutely thrilled with the report because it was very comprehensive, very detailed. I call it the ‘time-in-motion study’ almost and some of the aspects [are] ‘how does your paper flow? How can you make your processes better? . . . As a government agency, how can we provide better service to the constituents?’ And to us we think that this study identifies those things down to all of the small paper processes and flows.”
Retired City Manager City of Vista, CA
“Thank you so much for this training. This was the best PIO training I’ve ever received.”
S-403 Information Officer class participant
“Thank you so much for all you have done. And it’s so comprehensive, I know it’s going to take a while for us to digest it all, but I think you’ve come up with some really good recommendations.”
Pro Tempore City of Vista, CA
“I think Citygate has done a great job. It seems like you’ve been most thorough and even-handed in your evaluations and you’ve given us certainly a lot of suggestions and guidelines to work with.”
City of Vista, CA
“I think this is one of the most comprehensive reports and I think probably one of the best presented reports I’ve seen in my years in government service. I want to start off by commending you for that and acknowledge that the work that you were able to do with cooperation from all of the different firefighting agencies in this region was second-to-none.”
Supervisor First District San Diego County