Hanceville Police Sgt. Rob Long hasn’t had the chance to spend too much time out of view from his dad’s watchful eye.

“Growing up, yes, he was kind of a strict dad,” says Rob, who’s been with the Hanceville Police Department for the past eight years. “I knew I’d get in trouble for doing anything I shouldn’t.”

But vigilant parenting didn’t deter Rob from choosing the same life his father — Hanceville Police Chief Bob Long — chose. In fact, it’s led both father and son to a close working relationship on the same small police force.

“Ron is a good officer,” says Bob “He’s an aggressive, thorough officer — and I don’t just say that because he’s my son. He’s been a full time officer with the department almost nine years — longer than I have — and he’s done things right.

“For the record, I did not hire him. Another chief did. But In law enforcement, we get a lot more complaints than we get compliments, and I’ll compliment him for the work that he does.”

For his part, Rob doesn’t mind having to answer to his dad at work.

“It’s just like working any other job,” he says. “It’s got its ups and downs. “No kid or teenager likes being disciplined or talked down to or anything like that, and he is my dad. But everything he told me back then makes sense now. It has helped me learn to fend for myself.”

Originally from Indiana, Bob Long considers himself an Alabamian. A resident of Blount County for more than 30 yrs, Long began working as a reserve deputy at the Blount County Sheriff’s Office in 1995, and worked his way through the Jefferson County Reserve Academy as he took on additional roles as a sheriff’s deputy.

He began working part time at Hanceville in 2007, went full time in 2010, and by 2011 had earned enough confidence of a new mayor and city council administration to be appointed police chief.

“I guess it is a unique situation, having father and son in law enforcement, on the same force,” says Bob. “But I like to think that we are assets; that each of us, on our own, brings something good to Hanceville.

“You have to be willing to wear a lot of different hats in a job like this. I direct school traffic almost every morning and afternoon, and that’s just fine. People see you and know you, and they expect you to step up to whatever situation arises.”

Rob, who’s open to pursuing his law enforcement career beyond Hanceville “if,” as he says, “it’s best for my family,” shares his dad’s pride in being known as a do-it-all officer. But no matter how far his career takes him, he’s got no interest in doing what his dad does.

“I like doing a little bit of everything — and as a patrol officer in Hanceville, you can work absolutely everything,” he says. “It can be traffic, wrecks, stops, drug busts, and with that you can also end up doing some narcotics and investigation work,” he said.

“But I don’t want to be chief. That’s not my role. Being a supervisor, I do have good experience dealing with the public and with other officers. I’d definitely rather do that than be chief. I guess you could say patrol is my niche.”

Bob and Rob may not be the only members of the Long family to take up a career in law enforcement. Bob’s other son, Ryan, has already indicated an interest in police work once his current service in the U.S. Marine Corps ends.

“We may all wind up in law enforcement,” says Bob. “I guess we’re a family of service…but we all just took different paths to get there.”