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CHIEF OF POLICE
Thurston Bullock
Chief Bullock was born on March 27, 1973 in Savannah, Georgia after his father was stationed there for the United States Coast Guard. A year later, his family returned home to Foley, where he grew up in southern Baldwin County. Chief Bullock attended Foley High School and graduated with honors in 1991. The next five years were spent working at Riviera Utilities in Foley while attending Faulkner State Community College and Troy State University classes at night. He did this while attending South West Alabama Police Academy on the weekends. While in the academy, he was chosen as the squad leader and graduated the highest academic in his class. In 1996, Chief Bullock graduated from Troy State University magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and minors in psychology and in business. He knew early in life that he wanted to have a career in law enforcement and began preparing and working hard toward that endeavor.
After graduating, Chief Bullock spent a brief three months working as a Reserve Mobile County Deputy for experience before fulfilling his dream of being hired on in his home. His career as a Foley Police Officer started in 1996. During his career, he was afforded many opportunities while promoting along the way. He worked as a patrol officer until becoming a detective in Investigations in 1997. He was promoted to corporal while in Investigations in 2000 and later promoted to sergeant in 2002. He also served as a narcotics investigator sergeant before becoming a patrol shift sergeant and supervising a night shift. He was then promoted to patrol commander lieutenant in 2007. In January of 2015, he was selected field operations captain and two years later, in 2017, was selected by Chief David Wilson to be his deputy chief and chief of staff. Then, in 2020, he was named Chief of Police of the city he has always called home.
During his time here at Foley PD, Chief Bullock has earned many accomplishments. He was awarded Officer of the Year in 2012 and has received the Exceptional Service Ribbon on two occasions, Major Felony Arrest Ribbon, FBI National Academy Graduate Ribbon, and many more recognitions and awards. On top of that, Chief Bullock has also received well over 2,000 hours of continuous training in various police related disciplines.
Chief Bullock served on the Baldwin County Major Crimes Task Force for six years. He was also elected in 2014 and served as the southern vice president for the Alabama Tactical Officers Association for a maximum two consecutive, two-year terms. As a SWAT Commander, he led Foley's first Special Response Team that later became part of South Baldwin S.W.A.T., a multi-jurisdictional SWAT team. He is a member of the National Tactical Officers Association, Alabama Association of Polygraph Examiners, American Polygraph Association, and International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. He is currently serving on the Baldwin County Appeals Board and the Major Crimes Unit Board of Directors.