Mentone Police Chief Gene McKee Serves with Humility and Fairness

In a town the size of Mentone, the police chief is more than a person behind a badge. He’s a neighbor, a familiar face at the store, someone you’ve had coffee with. He’s someone who knows your children, your parents and, quite possibly, your dog.

For Police Chief Gene McKee, that’s exactly the way he believes policing should be. “There are very few people here that I haven’t met and don’t know. Maybe I’ve had a cup of coffee with you, been to your house. If you’re local, eight out of 10 cars, I know.”

After nearly 30 years of living in Mentone with his wife, Angela — a third-generation Mentone resident — McKee has become deeply woven into the fabric of the community he serves. That familiarity shapes the way he approaches every interaction. For McKee, law enforcement has never been about writing tickets or making arrests. It’s about serving people first. His philosophy is simple: “Be nice until you can’t. Then you’re the police.”

He shares that advice with other officers, but it’s also the standard he sets for himself. Every situation deserves patience, understanding, and discretion before authority takes over. “You have to have discretion. Everybody’s different with different circumstances. You have to be the police for all. You can’t be the police for some.”

That commitment to fairness is rooted in something even deeper: doing what’s right. When faced with difficult decisions, McKee relies on three questions. “If you’ll ask yourself these three things… Is it ethical? Is it moral? Is it legal? All three need to be a yes. If you get one no, then don’t do it.”

Those principles have guided him since an unexpected career change led him into law enforcement. McKee grew up in Henagar, where sports filled much of his childhood. At Sylvania High School, he played football, basketball, and baseball. “I love all of that,” he said. He’s still an athlete, but these days he hits a golf ball.

After high school, he went to work in the hosiery industry before spending a number of years in maintenance at Alpine Camp. Along the way, he met Angela, the woman who would become his wife. Their courtship wasn’t a prolonged one. McKee describes it in the modern phrase, “if you know, you know,” and the two fell in love and married. Their son, Brandon, was born when McKee was 19 years old. Today, Brandon has built a life of service of his own, spending 13 years in the U.S. Army before beginning a career in software and electronics in Georgia. McKee has three grandchildren, whom he sees as often as possible.

Law enforcement wasn’t part of McKee’s original plan. Former Mentone Police Chief Lamar Bray spent years encouraging him to give it a try before Mentone and Valley Head offered to send him to the Jefferson County Law Enforcement Academy if he would work part time.

Just months later, circumstances changed, and on Jan. 1, 2019, McKee found himself serving as Mentone’s police chief. He still speaks about that transition with characteristic humility. “I didn’t think I was ready for that role.” Instead of pretending to know everything, he accepted help from those who believed in him. “When you go from just patrolling, or maybe writing a ticket or two, there’s a whole new executive role that involves all the paperwork, serving as a training officer, running a department, etc.”

Bray remained on staff to mentor him, while others, including former Police Chief Brad Gregg and DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Weldon, encouraged him along the way. Even today, McKee is far quicker to credit others than himself. And he gives high praise to Assistant Police Chief Mike Langston. “When I needed another officer, he was the first and only guy I went after.”

To him, Mentone’s greatest strength isn’t growth or development. It’s the sense of community that still exists in a place where neighbors know one another and look out for each other. That doesn’t mean the town hasn’t changed. One of the biggest differences McKee has seen in recent years isn’t within Mentone itself, but on the roads that run through it. Thanks to GPS navigation, thousands of motorists traveling between Huntsville and Atlanta are now routed on Highway 117. The result has been a dramatic increase in traffic.

“I would say since 2019 it’s a 40 to 50 percent increase in traffic. It was busy then. It’s always been busy. But now it’s just… it’s crazy. I mean, you average a car every eight seconds on this road.”

Despite the influx of visitors passing through town, McKee says Mentone remains one of the safest communities in Alabama. “I will put Mentone’s crime rate up against anybody in the state of Alabama. And not because of me and Mike Langston being who we are… It’s because of the people here.” He said the town’s low crime rate reflects the character of its residents, both natives and new residents who came to Mentone seeking a quieter pace of life. “The crime rate here is not perfect, nor will it ever be… But it’s very good.”

That same sense of community is why people don’t hesitate to reach out to McKee whenever they need help. He sees this as a reflection of the trust people place in him. Serving a small town means being available to it, and for McKee, that’s simply part of caring for the community he calls home.

Away from the department, his greatest joy is spending time with his family. Ask about his three grandchildren (two girls and a boy), and the reserved police chief lights up. “It’s the best feeling in the world being a grandparent. There’s nothing better than that.”

His 6-year-old grandson affectionately calls him “GPA” and wants to be wherever his grandfather is. “Whatever GPA is doing, that’s where Owen’s going to be.” Whether they’re fishing, playing golf, or simply mowing the yard together, those moments are the ones McKee treasures most. Someday, when retirement comes, he hopes it will include more woodworking, more golf, and more time with the grandchildren.

McKee also speaks often of his gratitude — for Angela, who supported his career change; for the mentors who prepared him for leadership; and for the town officials who believed he was the right person for the job. Looking back, one thought rises above all the rest. “They took a chance on me. And I will forever be grateful for that.”

Perhaps that’s what makes Gene McKee such a natural fit for Mentone. He doesn’t seek recognition. He shares credit. He believes kindness comes before authority, ethics come before expediency, and neighbors deserve to be treated with dignity.

In a town where nearly everyone knows the chief by name, those qualities may be the very reason so many people trust him — not simply as their police chief, but as one of their own.