Staff Reporter

staffreporter@alltel.net

You may find him wearing a shirt and tie, sitting behind the desk as Captain at the Kentucky State Police Post at Hazard, but the attitude of the new Captain at Hazard is very gray collar. He makes it clear that he will be more than just an administrator, he will be working along side the Troopers.

Jeff Caudill is the new Captain at Post 13 Hazard of the Kentucky State Police. Caudill is originally from Letcher County having grown up in Jeremiah, and graduating from Letcher High.

He joined the Kentucky State Police in 1993, and worked at various post areas throughout the state. His career has had him working at the Pikeville, London, Frankfort, and Ashland Posts, as well as the Hazard Post when he worked Letcher and Perry Counties as a Trooper.

Caudill said he realized the main problem in the mountains is drugs. He said he was hoping to be able to take a more proactive approach in working on the drug problem.

He is looking forward to the new cadets graduating in December from the state police academy as Hazard is in line to get five of them. Captain Caudill hopes to use them along with returning troopers to have more undercover officers, and create a Criminal Patrol Unit for high crime areas utilizing canine units and specialty officers.

Another thing Captain Caudill has repeated is the need to cooperate with the local law enforcement agencies such as the Hazard City Police and the Perry County Sheriff's Department. As he puts it, "There's plenty of work for all of us."

His policy towards the public is one of openness as well as involvement. He invites the public to call or come in and visit him at Post 13 if you have information you feel he needs to help the State Police so a better job in serving the public.

He summed up his feelings about the role he thinks the Kentucky State Police have in the community by saying, "I want the public to be able to go to bed at night and feel safe as a result of our efforts."

Jeff Caudill's wife's name is Ginger, and they have a nine year old son, Owen.