Frank Hooper, who spent 32 years in the Gainesville Police Department, rising from patrolman to chief, died Monday, the department confirmed. He was 64
Hooper was viewed by many in the department as mentor and a legend. Current Police Chief Jay Parrish said Hooper hired him and was a mentor throughout the rest of his life.
"I owe my career to Chief Hooper," Parrish said. "He was definitely a legend. He was responsible for transforming the Gainesville Police Department into a professional agency. I can't tell you how many times I've called him since being the police chief for advice. It saddens me to know that that's not available."
Hooper spent 12 years as chief, retiring in 2008 at the age of 52.
Hooper was a patrolman for a decade, then volunteered to work at the jail. He was soon on the department's administrative track, starting as a firearms instructor and range master.
In the late 1980s, wrote the department's first firearms policy. Later, he was involved in the department's first accreditation efforts. He headed the accreditation efforts when the department was first accredited in 1993.
"He researched and found that the accreditation process was the way to build standards to make us a professional organization so that no matter who's the chief and who's the officers, the city of Gainesville gets that same service delivery." Parrish said. "And now, the accreditation is just in our law enforcement DNA. We don't know how to police outside of meeting the accreditation standards."
He later supervised criminal investigation and was supervisor of administrative services.
Hooper once told reporters that he had been a part of the Gainesville Police Department his whole life, and he wasn't really lying. His father, Roy Franklin Hooper, Sr., has taken his son to the office when he was a toddler, and later took his teenage son ride alongs on Saturday nights.
Although he held nearly a dozen different positions with the department in his career, he claimed to not have a favorite.
"I think he enjoyed putting on his uniform," Parrish said. "He just enjoyed serving. And whatever his assignment was, he was going to figure out how he could serve. He was very proud of the Gainesville Police Department. And he was proud to wear this uniform."
This story will be updated.
