Hassan M. Aden, SPA/MPA '09, chief of police in Greenville, North Carolina, has served police departments for nearly 30 years and has used his "SPA experience every day."

He recently implemented an innovative plan that invited the community into the strategic planning and mission development process in the Greenville (NC) Police Department "to increase police legitimacy and as one of the first steps to fully engage police departments in community policing."

Hassan earned his Key Executive Leadership Masters of Public Administration from American University in 2009. He has also completed studies through the Police Executive Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police and the University of Richmond's Professional Executive Leadership School. He serves as commissioner for the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) in assisting public safety agencies in achieving national and international accreditation status. In fall 2014, Aden is also serving as an adjunct professor at East Carolina University.

Hassan rose through the ranks of Alexandria police to deputy chief of police – patrol division, where he oversaw more than 200 sworn and civilian employees for the city's 148,000 residents, and managed a budget of $22 million. During his career he has also served as Police Captain over the largest police district in Alexandria, helping bring crime rates to a 43-year low, and Special Assistant to the Chief of Police, providing leadership on special police policy matters and strategic planning. He has extensive experience in internal investigations and police communications. He was also inducted to George Mason University's Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy's Evidence-Based Policing Hall of Fame.

Aden said of his current role, "This position comes with a tremendous responsibility to deliver meaningful and high-quality police services to our community. I look forward to leading a progressive and well-respected Greenville Police Department into its next chapter."

#MySPAHistory

"From day one, I was hooked and began to enjoy the immediate benefits of what I was learning. I was in a group of incredibly talented classmates and brilliant professors that prepared me for the grueling world of politics, policy and government administration that is now my daily life. I look back at my career and I can identify many transformation points, none greater than when I joined the AU family."