Santa Fe College Police Chief Ed Book announced he would retire later this year after more than 40 years of public safety service, spending 26½ years with the Gainesville Police Department and the last 14 years with the college.
Book, who also serves on the Gainesville City Commission, said he will remain as chief until the college selects a new chief, expected for this fall. He said he’ll likely overlap with the new chief to ensure a smooth transition before finally stepping away. Santa Fe College has already opened the position for applications.
Book’s retirement comes as the Santa Fe College Police Department (SFPD) just won the Rocky Pomerance Law Enforcement Excellence Award. Returning from South Florida for the presentation, Book said the department also won the award in 2012, highlighting the quality of the force.
“You want to leave things better than how you started at them, and you also want to know that the organization, the police department, is in really good shape with very good leaders internally right now,” Book said.
The award recognizes innovation within community safety, and Santa Fe College is one of only two higher education institutions to have won the award.
Book highlighted past awards as well: Leadership in Victim Services Award from the International Association of Chiefs of Police in 2023, second place for Higher Education Department the Year by the National Campus Safety Summit in 2020, one of “Safest Colleges in America” by the National Council for Home Safety and Security in 2019.
Book said this year’s award focused on the department’s efforts in crime prevention through environmental design. He said SFPD partnered with grounds crew, custodians and other staff to ensure Santa Fe College’s campuses are designed to enhance safety, from lighting to pedestrian walkways and all-around cleanliness.
“So, what that means is our grounds crew knows that what they do and the way that they maintain our campus contributes to our campus being safer and more secure,” Book said.
Book added that the department has also worked to build strong relations with students through Student Police Dialogues and attending all student life functions.
Book said he’s confident the administration will pick the right leader moving forward. Someone to build upon the department’s success.
“I think the successor they hire will, again, they’ll take us to the next level,” Book said. “They will determine how they can continue to build upon the relationships that we have with our students and staff, and who knows what else would come forward.”
Book said the opportunity to become a police chief is rare, especially one that allows you to stay in the same community. He’d had a long career with the Gainesville police to that point and said he’d have been happy to continue with the department if he’d not been selected for SFPD.
He said it was a natural transition since he’d already been partnering with the University of Florida in his role. With letters of support from former Gainesville Police Chief Tony Jones and former Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell, Book moved to SFPD.
Book said the retirement process has been smooth, and if there’s a best way to retire, he said this seems to be it.
Book said his wife retired three years ago after a career of teaching in the local school district. He said the plan for several years has been to retire soon, though he’ll still work as a commissioner for the city of Gainesville after being elected in 2022.