About
Doris Huff has served as Chief of AB Public Safety since 2020, with overall responsibility for the safety of the 1,100-student AB campus 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. She supervises a team of 14 safety officers, manages the AB safety-escort service, oversees the daily-crime-log and Clery-Act reporting program, and is the AB liaison to the Philippi Police Department, the Barbour County Sheriff's Office, and the WV State Police.
Huff retired in 2020 from the City of Buckhannon Police Department after twenty-three years of service, the last seven of those as Lieutenant in charge of the patrol division. In her police career she was the lead officer on dozens of crisis-intervention calls, a certified crisis-negotiator, and the BPD's liaison to West Virginia Wesleyan College.
She holds an A.S. in Criminal Justice from Glenville State University (1996) and is a graduate of the West Virginia State Police Academy (1997). She has also completed the FBI National Academy Leadership Program (2018) and is a certified WV Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Trainer.
Education
- 2018FBI National Academy Leadership Program — Quantico, Virginia.
- 1997West Virginia State Police Academy (Class 14) — Institute, WV.
- 1996A.S., Criminal Justice — Glenville State University.
- —Certifications: WV Crisis Intervention Trainer, ICAT De-Escalation, ALICE Active-Shooter Instructor.
Teaching
Captain Huff teaches AB's mandatory safety modules and a guest-instructor unit each year in the AB Criminal Justice department.
- AB 108Personal Safety & Crisis Preparedness (Mandatory)A 4-week online module required of all incoming students. Covers personal safety, active-shooter response, mental-health awareness, and AB-specific emergency procedures.
- CJ 250Patrol Practice & Community Policing (Guest Instructor Unit)A two-week guest unit in the AB CJ curriculum drawing on Huff's twenty-three years of patrol experience.
Practice & Community
Captain Huff's identity is operational and community-focused. Under her direction the AB safety-escort service has expanded to 24/7 coverage (from previous limited evening hours), a campus-wide safety-app was launched in partnership with Eric Holloway's IT department, and AB completed its first full active-shooter tabletop exercise in collaboration with the Philippi PD and the Barbour County Sheriff in 2024.
She is a member of the WV Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (Past Vice President), the National Association of Clery Compliance Officers and Professionals (NACCOP), and the WV Crisis Intervention Team Trainers Network.
Selected Publications & Presentations
- 2024Co-author, "Small-Campus Safety: A Practical Field Guide." Campus Safety Magazine.
- 2023Plenary, IACLEA Annual Conference, "The 14-Officer Department."
- 2025Workshop leader, NACCOP, "Clery Compliance for Small Institutions."
Honors & Service
- 2024WV Association of Campus Law Enforcement Distinguished Service Award.
- 2020Buckhannon PD Distinguished Service Medal (retirement).
- 2018FBI National Academy graduate.
- 2014WV Crisis Intervention Trainer Certification.
Campus safety is not what you bring to the campus from outside. It is what the campus already is. The job of my department is to be the visible, predictable, available presence that protects the trust that already exists among the people who live and learn here.— Captain Doris L. Huff
Beyond the Classroom
Huff lives in Buckhannon with her wife Lorna (a retired Buckhannon-Upshur High School counselor). They have two adult children, both in police service (a Trooper with the WV State Police and a Deputy with the Barbour County Sheriff). She is a Sunday-school teacher at the Buckhannon-Upshur Baptist Church.
She is a serious deer hunter (the family freezer is mostly venison every year), a long-distance road cyclist, and the volunteer firearms-safety instructor for the AB Equestrian Center staff.