BIOGRAPHY

Anthony B. Cooper was appointed as Centerville's first Public Safety Director on September 15, 2009 almost one year after being sworn in as Centerville's Chief of Police on September 29, 2008. Chief Cooper has more than 33 years in law enforcement. 

Chief Cooper began his law enforcement career in 1974 with the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office in Columbus, Georgia, after serving in the United States Marine Corps.  He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Columbus College in Columbus, Georgia.

Chief Cooper joined the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 1984 where he served as a Special Agent, Supervisory Special Agent, Staff Coordinator, and Unit Chief. At the time of his retirement in December 2007, Chief Cooper was the Resident Agent-in-Charge (RAC) of the Port St. Lucie, Florida, office of the DEA.

During his career with the DEA, Chief Cooper was stationed in Columbus, Georgia; Nassau, Bahamas; Freeport, Grand Bahamas; Washington, DC; and Port St. Lucie, Florida.

His professional accomplishments include extensive experience working overseas with multi-jurisdictional and multi-international narcotics and money laundering investigations, serving as the DEA representative on the House Judiciary Committee’s Crime Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives, as well as serving as the Unit Chief in the Policy and Procedures Unit at DEA Headquarters in Washington, DC.