HUTTO – Hutto Police Chief Jeffrey Yarbrough was recently named the recipient of the 2022 Texas A&M University Outstanding Alumni (Early Career) Award from the School of Education and Human Development.
A 2012 graduate of Texas A&M with a master’s degree in Human Resources Development, Yarbrough joins an exclusive club of less than 1% of Texas A&M graduates to receive the honor.
The award is given annually to those who have made outstanding contributions or exemplified leadership within their chosen fields across their community, state, and the nation through professional service, public service and/or civic activities. Yarbrough became the first member of law enforcement to win the award. The prestigious honor comes as a result of two major projects that Yarbrough developed and implemented to further enhance public safety initiatives.
One of his first major goals after joining the city of Hutto in April was to develop and launch the Community SAFE (Strategic Actions For Everyone) Project.
A first-of-its-kind community outreach program, the Community SAFE Project offers local facilities a variety of services designed to increase citizen preparedness for major safety situations, including active shooters, fires, severe weather, fugitives- at-large and hazardous material spills.
Yarbrough’s other significant project that contributed to the award occurred when he served as the Chief of Police for the Round Rock ISD Police Department.
In addition to overseeing safety for 57 campuses with nearly 7,000 employees and over 50,000 students, he developed and implemented the “four pillars of policing” model that focused on school safety, equality, behavioral health and student advocacy.
That program also earned Yarbrough one of the highest honors possible for law enforcement in the state of Texas, the Law Enforcement Achievement Award. Given annually by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, the award is given to peace officers, reserve officers and jailers who have exceeded the normal expectations of job performance through acts of professional achievement, public service or valor.
These pair of honors further highlight the experience and dedication of Hutto’s public service leaders, in addition to the impact and importance of recognizing public safety within schools and the community, especially in light of recent tragedies in Texas and around the country.
