By Police1 Staff
PRIOR LAKE, Minn. - At 12-years old, Booker Hodges’ first experience with Minnesota police wasn’t positive.
“My mom had died and an officer had referred to me and my brother, my younger brother, in a derogatory term,” said Hodges, who was named the interim police chief in Prior Lake, Minnesota this month.
But instead of letting that experience form his attitude toward law enforcement as a whole, he committed to becoming a police officer, KARE 11 reports.
Hodges graduated high school and flew to Florida for college, where he learned he was only reading at a fourth-grade level. He soon went back home to get a job parking cars in Minneapolis but never allowed himself to get discouraged.
He taught himself how to read by watching TV news and comparing stories to the newspaper. He went back to college to obtain two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s and his doctorate. During that time, he worked his way up to being an officer.
Hodges’ interim contract is for six months. At that point, the City Manager will decide what happens.
“I still firmly believe that law enforcement is the most noble profession on the face of the earth,” Hodges says. “Every time one of us puts on this uniform, we’re telling the public that my life is less important than yours, regardless of your social, economic class or anything else.