Clarksville’s new Chief of Police Mark Gable has hit the ground running since he stepped into his new role last month.
“Citizens can expect a lot of positive changes to how the department, myself, and my officers will be working in the community and for the community,” said Gable.
Born and raised in Clarksville, Gable said that he was always drawn to a first responder role. In 1999, he joined the Commerce Fire Department as a city firefighter and said it was a job he truly loved.
“The more I worked within the department, the more opportunities I could take hold of,” he said. “I was fortunate to work under three different arson investigators, which piqued my interest in the specialized field.”
However, during his time as a firefighter, Gable was in a serious motorcycle accident and sustained injuries that sidelined him for an extended amount of time. Injuries sustained, and his recovery resulted in him leaving the department. He decided then to further his first responder training by acquiring his EMT certifications and even considering a nursing career with early acceptance into a program.
Upon completing the EMT course, Gable was spurred to pursue his peace officers certification next; a certification that would allow him to continue taking steps towards becoming an arson investigator.
No stranger to working with the Clarksville Police Department, Gable accepted his first job as a law enforcement officer with the department in January of 2010. He spent a few years with the department before later working for Bogata and DeKalb Police Departments and finally returning to Clarksville now with his posting as the Chief.
“I have an already great team here,” he said. “When I stepped into the job officially, there were a lot of things that needed attention. Many issues needed to be rectified, and the team began to do the work to make it an easy transition.”
Currently, Gable said that he has three officers working underneath him and looking to hire on two more to fill out his team.
“It is not about the qualifications (though required) the new hires that I will add to the team will need to possess the same drive and but have the drive serve and protect the community,” Gable said. “We are not going to be a ‘clicky’ department.”
Gable said he’s also been working hard to build back the community’s trust with the department, a relationship he feels very strongly about.
“I have an open-door policy with everyone. From staff to citizens, from a grievance or someone just needing a shoulder to lean on, my officers and I are here for everyone anytime they need. That’s what serving a community is about,” he said.
Further adding that burglaries and break-ins were on the rise when he took office but are now fading away.
Gable said this was the result of officers doing nightly checks on local establishments, to which there had been great feedback from business owners.
So far so good, Gable says of his transition, knowing that his goal is to bring back the true definition of serving the community. He has high hopes that having grown up in Clarksville has given him the edge over his predecessors to provide a service to his community.
“I’m not saying I know everything, but what I don’t know, I will do my best to educate myself to know,” said Gable. “I’m here for my community, whether it is to police, be an ear for someone to talk to, sit with people on their front porch and visit or do a run to the grocery store to help them. My team will be there, and I will be available day and night when I am needed.”
