After 22 years, Corbin Police Chief decides to retire

After 22 and a half years, through the tenures of eight mayors and seven city managers, Corbin Police Chief Carson Mullins has decided to call it quits.
Mullins, who started with the department 36 years ago in 1973 as a raw recruit, will work his last day Feb. 6. He formally notified Corbin City Commissioners and Mayor Willard McBurney of his decision on Monday. He said he is leaving simply because the time is right.
Corbin Police Chief Carson Mullins has worked for the city as a police officer for 36 years, since 1973.

“I’m just tired … really tired,” Mullins said. “With this job, there is no such thing as leaving at 4:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. or not having to worry about anything after that. At any second you can be called out to deal with something, so there is no peace. I think that has just worn me down a little bit.”
Mullins took over the department’s reigns after former Chief of Police Lacy Martin retired in 1986.
When Mullins started with the department in 1973 at age 21, it had only about 10 officers. Since, it has more than doubled in size.
About two years into his time as Chief, Mullins established a fleet plan that eventually led to each officer having their own individual cruiser. Before that time, officers had to share the only two or three cruisers the department owned.
“Trying to operate just two or three cars for every officer in the department, it was too hard,” Mullins said. “That was one of the first things I wanted to do was improve that.”
Along with former Corbin Police Officer, and good friend, Larry Goodin, Mullins set about purchasing used police cruisers from other police departments in Ohio and bringing them home to fix up and use. Goodin and Mullins, who owned PMT Ambulance Service together for a time in the 1980s, would do much of the repair work themselves on the cars before the department used them.
“The city paid for the cruisers, and we would do the paint jobs and touching up and installed most of the equipment,” Mullins said. “I think we did seven or eight altogether that way.”
Now, every officer has a vehicle they can take home with them after a shift – an important thing, Mullins contends, because it allows the department to dispatch large numbers of personnel directly from their homes in case of an emergency.
“You take a situation like we had with the ice plant about a month ago, we were able to have a lot of men out on the street within minutes. It makes a big difference.”
During his tenure, Mullins also established a rank system and oversaw a marked improvement in equipment and technology used by the department.
“There is nothing like technology,” Mullins said. “That has solved a heck of a lot of problems in law enforcement. You have the capability of knowing anything and everything these days.”
Mullins said his strong community ties always helped him in his years as a patrol officer and later as chief. His mother and father owned and operated Carson’s, a shoe and clothing store in downtown Corbin. His grandparents ran Mullins Supply Company – a furniture and hardware store downtown.
“I was born and raised here … I grew up on Main Street,” Mullins said. “I pretty well knew everyone in Corbin or had some dealings with them at some point in time.”
Though times have changed, Mullins said little about policing is significantly different since he patrolled the streets in 1973.
“I’m not really good at telling war stories … Really, being a good police officer is just about plain and simple common sense, doing your job to the best of your ability, and treating people fairly and honestly. If you do that, you are going to accomplish your task,” he said. “I feel like me and this department have grown up together.”
Corbin City Commissioner Phil Gregory, the longest serving member of the commission, praised Mullins Tuesday for his contributions to the city and said he tried to talk him out of retiring for a while.