Colonel Chris Gillard has been selected as the “Mississippi Trailblazer of the Year.”
The Department of Public Safety announced that Col. Gillard, Assistant Public Safety Commissioner and Director of the Mississippi Highway Patrol, was chosen to receive the award that has been given out annually since 2003.
Awarded by the Mississippi Trailblazers Board of Governors, the honor is presented to “Mississippians who have distinguished themselves by making significant contributions for furthering diversity and multicultural exchange in our state.”
“Colonel Gillard is not only a man of faith, he is a dedicated law enforcement professional who is highly regarded by both peers and subordinates,” said Commissioner Marshall Fisher. “His leadership skills and devotion to duty is unmatched. I congratulate him on this milestone.”
As Assistant Public Safety Commissioner and Director of the Highway Patrol, Colonel Gillard oversees the daily operation of the largest statewide law enforcement agency in Mississippi. He has served in this position since 2016.
Throughout his twenty-five years of service in law enforcement, Colonel Gillard has worked in many different areas of the Mississippi Highway Patrol including Director of the Driver Service Bureau, Director of Training, Executive Officer to the Commissioner of Public Safety, Governor Executive Protection Detail, Drug Trafficking Interdiction, and former Highway Safety Patrol Recruiter.
Colonel Gillard, a Tupelo native, is a recent graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Executive Institute Academy, which is the FBI’s premier executive training initiative.
