Chief Mark E. Kissel

Chief of Police, Retired

Cherokee Co. School District (GA)

Chief Kissel has more than 40 years of law enforcement experience. He began his career with the Gwinnett County Police Department in 1974 and earned promotions at regular intervals and served as Director of Training and Assistant Chief – Uniform Division. In 1998, he served as Station Commander – Tuzla Region in Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of the Unite Nations International Police Task Force.

Chief Kissel holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminology from Florida State University and a Master’s degree in Public and Urban Affairs from Georgia State University. The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council has awarded Chief Kissel with several certifications including Executive level and he is certified as a senior instructor. He teaches criminal justice management and other related courses at Georgia State University and was awarded the Judge Andrew A. Mickle Outstanding Instructor Award in recognition of his contributions and dedicated service to the teaching mission of Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology.

He has served (on several occasions) as President of the Georgia Association of Secondary School Law Enforcement Executives. This organization is comprised of school district police departments and security units throughout the State of Georgia whose purpose is to a network for members to obtain information related to best practices in secondary school safety.