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On Friday, Troy Police Chief Randall Barr will don his uniform for the final time.

Barr will officially retire after 33-and-a-half years with the TPD, having served as chief for the last nine years.

Barr was a freshman at Troy Troy State University in 1986, working part-time jobs at the university Post Office and Food World. Barr said he made $3.15 an hour between two jobs and being a full-time student, he was putting in a lot of hours.

“Working in the post office, I would talk to people and had gotten to know some of the faculty and some of the university police, back then, they were university security,” Barr said. “One day Lt. Leon Bradley asked me to come work for the TSU police. He said it was $4 an hour and 32-hours.”

Barr said he was working a lot more than 32 hours in his two jobs, and decided a move to the TSU police would be good for him.

“I was a business and marketing major then,” Barr said. “But working for the university security, that was where I found my love for law enforcement.”

I worked for the university security part time for two-and-a-half years and graduated from the police academy in Montgomery in April 1990 and started working for the Troy Police Department on May 31, 1990.

Barr served in the patrol division for 10 years before being promoted to sergeant. A year later, Barr was promoted to a lieutenant in the patrol division, a post he served for eight years. In 2010, he was promoted to captain of the patrol division and the appointed police chief on June 19, 2015.

Barr said his career spanned more than 35 years, and over the years, one change had remained constant in how law enforcement evolved – technology.

“We had a total revamp of how we police because of technology,” Barr said. “Everything we do now is on the computer. Back then, everything we did was on paper. When we had to do an accident report, we had to draw it out on paper. We had to draw out the intersection, the vehicles involved and all other details. We had these templates with vehicles and everything else in different sizes. We’d use those templates to draw the accident report. It could take hours depending on how detailed the report had to be.”

Barr said the use of computers had streamlined the way police departments operated and made policing more efficient. He said some advances in technology also helped protect officers.

He said in-car cameras and body cameras were a big adjustment for officers.

“That was a little different,” Barr said. “The cameras record all of your activities, movements and interactions. But, if you’re doing your job as you should, the body camera will protect you. It was a big change, but it made our profession better.”

Barr said even though technology has changed the way officers carry out duties and investigations, technology will never replace good old-fashioned police work.

“Policing is all about making relationships in the community and making contacts,” Barr said. “If you treat people right, it will come back around. I tell my officers to be as compassionate and as kind as people will let you be. Sometimes, you have to do your job [with some people]. But, if you think ‘If this was my family, how would I want somebody to treat them?’ That makes it personal. And, if it’s personal, you’ll get it right everytime.”

Barr said people had often told him, “You’ll know when it’s time to retire.”

He and his wife, Sheri, have been married 34 years and have two sons, Cody and Brady. Barr said the position of chief is a tremendous responsibility that often requires long hours away from his family.

“I’ve had an amazing career,” Barr said. “We are blessed to have a community that supports law enforcement. Troy, Alabama, is a special place. The level of cooperation when working with our local partners or state and federal agencies – that level of cooperation seems to be better here than in a lot of other places. In my 35 years here, the city has been good to me and provided for my family. I have no complaints.”

Barr said he was part of two very large communications projects that were recently completed – the installment of digital radios for the Troy Police Department and Troy Fire Department  as well as the establishment of a countywide dispatch with a hardened building to house the dispatch office.

“I think it’s important to go out when you’re on top,” Barr said. “I’m happy with and proud of what we accomplished. There were a lot of people that worked to make that happen. Now that all of that is complete, I think it’s time to step aside so I can enjoy life while my health is still good. I had a good run and we’ve been very successful. I tried to build on our strengths and I hope I’ve had a positive impact. I hope I’ve left a good foundation for Chief Danny Barron to build on.”

The TPD will hold a retirement service for Barr on Friday at 2 p.m. at The Studio. Barron will be sworn in as the new chief next week.