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 Attalla 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 it 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.”