When Jeremy Carrell became a University of Arkansas employee in 2006, he knew he wanted to work as a police officer for the University of Arkansas Police Department. He has been drawn to the U of A his whole life.

"My father, Randall Carrell, has been working in IT Services since 1980. My mother, Ann Carrell, has been working at the university since 2000. They have been working for the U of A for a combined 65 years," Carrell said. "When I was a boy, I would visit my dad in the Administrative Services Building, which also hosts the UAPD. I've known people in this building for a long time, decades in fact, which has allowed me to see what the university has to offer since I was a child."

Carrell says he applied for an officer position at UAPD at least 14 times between 2006 and 2018. He cycled through several different jobs at the university, and he saw each job as a step in reaching his goal of becoming an officer. He began in the custodial division of Facilities Management in 2006, got an internal promotion, and shifted upward to the Athletics Facilities Supervisor position in 2012. His supervisor in athletics vouched for him and, in 2014, Carrell was hired as a dispatcher for UAPD.

"There's no way I would be where I am now if my supervisor in Athletics hadn't vouched that I could do good work," Carrell said. "He was trusted and liked. I was able parlay that into being a dispatcher."

Carrell did not apply to be an officer during the first year he worked as a dispatcher. He knew that the position would provide him with valuable skills for his chosen career.

"I didn't apply during my first year in dispatch, however, because I thought working at dispatch would help me learn how to be an officer, and it did," Carrell said. "I put the time into learning the job well, and the skills translated."

Becoming an officer was always Carrell's goal because, in his words, he knew that was where he could be most useful.

"I work at the U of A to fulfill my potential and to be useful. Part of what I view as being useful is dealing with people who I believe I can positively affect," Carrell stated. "You reach an age where you are set in your ways — you can change and adapt at those ages, but I find that dealing with young adults who are still impressionable and developing, I can be very helpful in giving them a different perspective on things. Even as I act in my professional capacities, I believe the way I frame issues is appreciated and it does make a difference."

Carrell became an officer in 2018 and was recently promoted to corporal at the beginning of 2023. He has been recognized for his excellent work with several awards. Carrell and several other UAPD officers won the COPS award for community policing for their work in 2020 and 2021, and he won the Employee of the Year award and DWI award in 2022. The DWI award is given to the officer who makes the most arrests for citizens 'Driving While Intoxicated' on the University of Arkansas campus. Decreasing DWI incidents is something Carrell focuses on.

"I consider DWI akin to waving a loaded gun in the air — it's a credible threat to someone's life. It's a major reason to be in law enforcement—to help people in substantively dangerous situations," Carrell said. "I led in DWI apprehensions by a fair margin, and I focused on it, even with my work in dispatch. The quality of my arrests is also quite high. If I can get someone home safely and not arrest them for public intoxication, and that's the best thing for them, I'll do that at the drop of a hat. I'm here to be useful and have an impact down the road. But I'm not here to reach a quota of arrests. If someone is driving drunk with a kid in their car, we are going to have a talk, because that is a substantive threat to someone's life."

Since reaching his goal, Carrell has had a great experience working as an officer and corporal for UAPD.

"I appreciate that UAPD is so service-minded and has a community-oriented approach. They strongly believe in a 'least-amount-of-force' approach. They think more about the ancillary effects: Not just what am I trying to accomplish right now, but what effect will my actions have down the road? UAPD has always had this genuine, service mindset."

Carrell advises that incoming employees understand the opportunity for growth offered at the U of A.

"If you're starting work at the U of A, remember that 80% of the jobs are stepping stones to what you want to do. Even if you don't consider your work directly important, you are learning something translatable to whatever you want to do, and more importantly, you are proving to your next employer that you can do good work. You need people to say, 'I saw him produce quality work.'"

Darby Gilliland, human resources graduate assistant, contributed to writing this article.

About the Employee Spotlight Series: The employee spotlight series highlights U of A faculty and staff members, the impact they have on campus and the community more broadly, and what makes the university an employer of choice for them individually. Each U of A employee plays a critical role in advancing the 150 Forward strategic priorities: advancing student success, achieving research excellence and enhancing the university's status as an employer of choice. If you have a recommendation of an employee to interview, contact Rachel Gerner at rgerner@uark.edu.