GADSDEN – The Gadsden City Council authorized Mayor Craig Ford to execute a lease
agreement he’s been negotiating for months with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency
(ALEA) to relocate its local Highway Patrol Post in Atalla to inside the city limits of Gadsden.
ALEA Troopers will be co-located at the Fire Training and Prevention Center on the campus of
Gadsden Airport.
“I am ecstatic to see this deal come to fruition,” said Ford. “A few months after taking office, the
troopers came to me with this idea, and we’ve been working on it ever since. It made perfect
sense to me. We already have firefighters, medics, and military at our airport. Now, we’ll have a
strong presence of law enforcement making that more of a public safety complex adjacent to our
airport. To be able to provide our State Troopers better facilities is an honor and will generate
new revenue for the city.”
ALEA’s Highway Patrol Post, currently located on West Meighan Boulevard in Attalla, will be
vacated as the agency transitions its personnel to the facility, which has been undergoing
renovations for several months to facilitate the move to Gadsden by early summer. Troopers say
the location near state highways and interstate access make the location ideal, and being located
at the airport with the fire department and military facilities provides an added level of security
that was attractive to the agency.
ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor agreed and said, “The relocation of the Highway Patrol Post
represents a shared commitment to promoting safety, security and community well-being. I echo
Mayor Ford’s words and I am grateful to him and the City of Gadsden for the collaborative
efforts and for the support to bring this move to fruition. ALEA’s mission is to protect the lives
of our citizens as well as the visitors to our great state. Partnerships and initiatives such as this
allows our Agency to achieve that goal.”
Media Release/Senior Trooper Brandon Bailey/Alabama Law Enforcement Agency
