Special to Iredell Free News

Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell announced Tuesday that Gina Cranford has been promoted to lieutenant and will now supervise the ICSO’s School Resource Officer Division.

Cranford attended Wilkes Community College Basic Law Enforcement Training in 1993 before joining the Taylorsville Police Department. She later became a corrections officer for the N.C. Department of Public Safety. In 1998 she left corrections and decided to return to law enforcement. She attended school resource officer training and was DARE instructor certified in elementary and middle school curriculums. Throughout her 10 years with the Taylorsville Police Department, she served as a sergeant on patrol and working in the schools building relationships between students and law enforcement.

In 2008, Cranford became a deputy with Iredell County Sheriff’s Office. She served the citizens well as working as the school resource officer at Lake Norman High School. The sense of duty she demonstrated at the largest school in the county prepared her to serve as a detective in the Criminal Investigations Division.

Sheriff Campbell recognized her potential and promoted her to sergeant in the School Resource Officer Division. This assignment allowed her to foster relationships with other officers and citizens of Iredell County throughout the schools and in the communities.

In 2018, she married and moved to Iredell County and became a resident in the community where she serves.