Late last year, the Carbondale City Council found themselves searching the nation for a new law enforcement department head when Stan Reno went from police chief to city manager after the resignation of former City Manager Gary Williams.

After nearly a year’s worth of research, interviews and community forums, the city found their guy just an hour down the road in Paducah, Kentucky. 

As of Sept. 2, Anthony Copeland officially assumed the role of Carbondale Police chief, a position that he says was not on his radar until he was told that he may be exactly what the city was looking for. 

“I was actually contacted by some folks who knew me and they literally said ‘we think Carbondale may be looking for you,’” Copeland told the Daily Egyptian in an exclusive interview.

“My response was like, ‘what are you talking about?’ And then when I read that advertisement detailing what they were looking for and what the community needs were, I was like well, that’s my passion,” he said. 

Copeland began his law enforcement career in a city that looks, feels and operates much differently than Carbondale. At 19 years old, Copeland patrolled the streets of Baltimore, Maryland as an officer with the Baltimore County Police Department, a place that sees crime committed at a similar clip as Carbondale, just on a much larger scale. 

After four years as an officer there, the place in which he grew up, Copeland moved to Paducah in 2006 where he would eventually work his way through the ranks, becoming the assistant chief of police in 2018.

Copeland’s experience growing up in Baltimore is what compelled him to pursue a career in law enforcement. From an early age, he began volunteering at the state park and working with his church at community events in the inner city. 

Copeland recalled instances from his youth, specifically those that highlight the privilege of mobility and opportunity, that have inspired him to do good, and to give back to his community. A childhood encounter with a man in a wheelchair on the streets of Baltimore and the paralysis of his grandfather after a stroke revealed to Copeland that he had a calling to community service as an able-bodied person. 

“I felt like I was called to be in some sort of service — as some sort of volunteer. Something that gives back,” Copeland said. 

He understood that, while community service was what he wanted to do, he also had to pay the bills.

“I needed to find a way to pay for college and a way to pay for my health insurance,” Copeland said. “My parents didn’t have it, and I understood.”

In addition to his 23 years of professional experience, Copeland holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s degree in human development and leadership from Murray State.

After spending nearly 19 years in Paducah, Copeland finds himself tasked with managing the safety of a complex city that works in collaboration with a university police department and multiple community organizations that aim to holistically identify and address the root causes of crime.

“To be effective in this leadership position, I need to understand the needs and the resources of this agency and this community,” Copeland said. “When you have a city the size of Carbondale, the biggest challenge is that there are multiple needs that all need to be taken into consideration. We have to provide patrol response, we have to provide victim advocacy and we have to provide mental health advocacy. 

“Because we have these complex needs and because we have to provide a complex response, we have to be, dare I say, a jack-of-all-trades agency to meet the needs of the community.” 

These needs were outlined in a 2022 report from SIU’s College of Health and Human Sciences, in which SIU surveyed Carbondale residents about the safety of their city. The report found that 20% of Carbondale residents feel that gun violence is a major problem within the city, and an additional 25% consider gun violence to be a moderate problem.

“Each week, Carbondale experiences an average of five gun-related incidents, two gun-related arrests and two guns seized,” the report reads. “This issue not only generates a great deal of concern among residents, it also consumes a substantial amount of city police resources.”

In response, the Carbondale Police Department launched the Strategic Response Unit in March of 2025, which has since made over 80 arrests and seized 26 illegal firearms this summer alone. 

Copeland said the unit’s primary purpose is efficiency. With patrol officers handling over 60,000 calls for service annually, the SRU was designed to be a focused resource for high-priority issues like gun violence.

“What we know is that the possession of illegal firearms is something that we need to focus on,” Copeland said. “And why do we know that? Because the community has told us that.”

Before the creation of the SRU, Carbondale City Councilwoman Nancy Maxwell founded and launched Carbondale United. 

Instead of focusing on arrests and seizures, Carbondale United works to “eradicate the reasons for violence” by linking distraught people with counseling, jobs and housing. 

“We (CPD) cannot fix everything,” Copeland said. “We want to increase the quality of life and we want to reduce harm and crime, and we want to do so in partnership with the community. When I see resources like Carbondale United, I say ‘absolutely.’ It is that collaborative, holistic approach that will continue to push this community forward.” 

In pushing forward, Copeland notes that he still has his work cut out for him when it comes to fully understanding the city and the collaborative processes that hold it together. With what Copeland calls a “triage” approach, his main focus is responding to calls quickly and effectively and then understanding the roots of what causes those calls in the first place. 

To do so, he’ll need the support from those monitoring the streets of the SIU campus, a place that finds itself bordering some of the highest crime areas in the city. 

His relationship with SIU Police Department and its chief, Ben Newman, is one that Copeland said he hopes to foster as he begins to understand the dynamic between the city and the campus.

“We should have a very close relationship with the college and with SIU PD,” Copeland said. “We’ve got to be working hand in hand to provide a safe environment for students, because we know that your feeling of security and safety affects your learning ability and your ability to thrive in life.” 

To determine the success of his force, Copeland aims for a decrease in crime rates and an increase in community trust. Quantifiers like the amount of illegal firearms seized and public safety data will help paint a picture of how the Carbondale Police Department is fairing under Copeland’s leadership. 

He said he’d also like to make sure that his department is ensuring that they are protecting people’s rights and that everything they do is being done so constitutionally. 

“Law enforcement must remain unpolarized, and our focus has to be on the protection of rights,” Copeland said. 

He said he wants the community to know that he is approachable and appreciates public thought. He encourages public involvement, public feedback and finds it necessary for the safety of Carbondale to be achieved through community collaboration.

“People call the police on their worst day – when they’re having some of the worst moments of their life,” Copeland said. “Every time a police officer interacts with someone, they’re either going to make a positive injunction, or it’s going to be negative. You’ve never walked away from an interaction with a police officer and thought ‘eh, that wasn’t bad.’ I want to do my best to have those be positive interactions.”

News Editor Jackson Brandhorst can be reached at [email protected]. Staff Reporter Brayden Guy can be reached [email protected]. Staff Reporter Leo Castro can be reached at [email protected].

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