Dr. Karla McCary Pope
With more than 40 years in the criminal justice field, Karla has worked with hundreds of police officers as an academy instructor, in-service training instructor, and college professor. Karla served as a full-time police officer for 10 years prior to transitioning to the academic arena. During her time as a police officer, Karla was part of the team that established the agency’s first K9 unit. After becoming a college professor of criminal justice, Karla has maintained close ties for over 20 years with the law enforcement community by serving as a reserve officer working in the patrol division, K9 division, mounted patrol division and as a training officer. Karla currently serves as the Criminal Justice Department chair at William Carey University and as a training officer for MS Coast full-time and reserve police academies teaching courses that include report writing, civil liability, juvenile procedure, and search & seizure.