Academy names retired JPD officer as interim director

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JONESBORO SUN: By JOE SCHRATZ Sun Staff Writer,

JONESBORO — Retired Jonesboro police Lt. Mark Mosier has been named interim director of the Black River Technical College Law Enforcement Training Academy.

Mosier has been a full-time LETA instructor at BRTC since 2016 and started as an adjunct instructor in 1999, the academy’s inaugural year.

Before becoming a full-time BRTC instructor, Mosier retired from the JPD in 2016 and has worked for the Walnut Ridge and Pocahontas police departments as well as the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office.

Mosier also served in the U.S. Army as a military police officer.

Mosier doesn’t plan to stay on permanently as the director of the academy. “I like the teaching aspect of it,” he said Wednesday.

At the JPD, Mosier worked in the Patrol and Criminal Investigation divisions. He also served as a training sergeant and was a member of the department’s SWAT team for 15 years.

Mosier was a lieutenant in the Special Operation Division when he retired.“I was a jack-of-all trades and the master of none,” he said, laughing.

Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott said Mosier is an excellent choice to be interim director.“He always did a fantastic job of teaching,” he said. “He has an excellent way of communicating with students. He’s very passionate about it.”

As interim director of LETA, Mosier oversees four full-time instructors and about 60 adjunct instructors. Of the adjunct instructors, Mosier said, “You want the current officers to teach,” adding that they bring insight to drug enforcement and domestic violence situations, for example.

A one-time journalism major at Arkansas State University, Mosier teaches a class on media relations at LETA. “I try to teach the importance of getting along with the media,” he said. He also teaches the importance of following the state Freedom of Information Act using an FOIA handbook in the class.

LETA currently has four JPD officers enrolled to be certified. Mosier holds an associate of Science in Criminal Justice from BRTC and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Williams Baptist University.

Mosier resides in Bono with his wife of 29 years, Tish, and his two children, Harry and Ava.

For more information about BRTC’s LETA, visit blackrivertech.org/academics/ service-programs/leta/leta-programs/ basic-police-training.

Link to article: https://www.jonesborosun.com/news/academy-names-retired-jpd-officer-as-interim-director/article_0c233783-ae0b-5688-87c1-ed65795cff7b.html