A familiar face around Hall County, Jeff Strickland is months into building his second police department in his own backyard at Lanier Technical College. Lanier Tech named Strickland as the police chief in September to create the institution’s campus police. “When I learned of the opening here, of course I applied for it because it’s five miles from my house,” said Strickland, who was putting 500 miles on the odometer every week going to Athens Technical College.