Bibb schools campus police chief mentors students

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – For one officer, there was a little spark in his heart that always told him he was a leader.

For more than 3 decades, Bibb County Campus Police Chief Russell Bentley is constantly reminded everyday by students the positive impact he has on others.

Chief Russell Bentley says, “This is where I started my journey here at L.H. Williams in the 60s.”

Chief Bentley gets a chance to walk in Bibb County Schools from time to time and mentor young kids.

He says returning to his old stomping grounds gives him a flashback to how he got started.

“It’s exciting to know that things are still going well here at L.H. Williams and that Dr. Ridley and the staff here are still instilling the same things that the principal that was here when I was here,” Bentley explains.

Bentley started out as a Junior Fire Marshall at L.H. Williams and went on to another elementary school to become a safety patrol.

Bentley says, “From school patrol to a police patrolman and here almost 38 years later the chief of campus police for public schools here in Bibb County.”

From hall to hall, Bentley says the school patrols are leaders who demonstrate the district’s motto—leadership…scholarship..and citizenship.

Bentley continues, “It excites me to know that we still have young people that desire to be public servants. They can choose to do a lot of things in school but they choose to come in early. Because in order to be a school patrol person they have to come to school early making the transition early in the morning for their classmates so they can get out of the cars and move in the hallway safely so they’re making a sacrifice so that’s what public safety and being a good citizen is about.”

Bentley says every time he visits L.H.Williams elementary school, it still feels like home.