Before starting a career as a police officer and rising through the ranks to become Auburn’s newest Public Safety director, Will Mathews worked at Kmart. This part-time job in his early years planted a seed that would lead to a 31-year career in public safety.

“I always loved going after shoplifters,” Will remembered. The interactions he had with police officers on the job sparked an interest in law enforcement.

Formerly the deputy director of Auburn’s Public Safety business unit, Will took over as director in February following former director Paul Register’s retirement.

Will arrived in Auburn in 1988 and ended up studying criminal justice. Will worked part-time as a security monitor for the Auburn University Police Department and volunteered as a reserve deputy sheriff for the Lee County Sheriff’s Department. He graduated from Auburn in 1992 and joined the Auburn Police Department that fall.

Will worked as a patrol officer for seven years. He was promoted to patrol corporal in 1999 where he participated in the department’s training efforts for new officers. From there, he was promoted to sergeant in 2000 and lieutenant in 2005. Will implemented new technologies into the patrol section — and would continue to do so throughout his career — including working closely with the City’s IT Department to develop an effective mobile computing system.

As lieutenant, Will also worked in the Administrative Section where he served as the training coordinator and commander of the Community Services Section, which included the City’s D.A.R.E program and crime prevention efforts. He moved to narcotics in 2012 before being promoted to captain of the Community Services Section. As such, Will oversaw the department’s school resource officers, training, crime prevention, hiring and narcotics unit.

In 2016, Will became the City’s first assistant police chief dedicated to all Auburn University law enforcement operations. The department had policed on Auburn University’s campus since 2004, but officers had worked out of the main police precinct on Ross Street and a small office in AU’s Student Center that was only staffed during peak hours.

“We needed more of a home base on campus — a recognizable place for students to see police officers coming and going every day. A place where they knew they could go to get help or to file a report,” Will said.

The City collaborated with the university to expand and remodel an existing building to create the current Auburn University Police Precinct, which opened in 2017. Will went to work establishing relationships with university staff, serving as the primary contact for all of the university community’s police service needs.

After four years, Will became the deputy director of Public Safety over emergency management and communications.

“Within two months of that, we had a pandemic upon us,” he said.

Will quickly shifted into providing guidance and direction for a community facing a national health emergency. He led the City’s efforts to continue providing services and acquiring PPE for the City’s entire workforce.

When vaccines became available, he was charged with establishing a vaccination clinic through a partnership with East Alabama Health, the City of Opelika and the Lee County Emergency Management Agency. He led the charge to transform the old Tuesday’s Morning building on Opelika Road into a functional clinic in less than two weeks. Despite the tight timeline, the vaccination clinic opened and administered more than 90,000 vaccinations in spring 2021.

Stepping into his new role, Will says his goal is to continue the efforts they’ve worked on for years — investing in community relationships, growing alongside the community to match new challenges, and ultimately maintaining the safety and security of all of Auburn.

Some of Public Safety’s newest projects include the construction of a new Public Safety Training Center, installing a new communications tower in south Auburn, adding advanced life support systems to all of Auburn Fire’s response vehicles and establishing Auburn as a hub for the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, helping Auburn Police partner with other agencies to solve regional crimes.

“There’s a legacy of highly respected and effective leaders within public safety here, and my hope is that I can continue down that path and keep public safety as a highly regarded, efficient machine that keeps our community safe and happy,” Will said.

Will encouraged anyone with questions or concerns to reach out to him at wmathews@auburnalabama.org or 334-501-3110.