by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
It was a particularly hectic stretch at Keith and Linda Mobley’s house.
Their first child, Amelia Sinclair Mobley, was born Oct. 18.
And he started his new job as director of security for the Adam’s Mark Hotel two days later.
“It’s been a big couple of weeks,” said Keith Mobley. “Nothing will prepare you for this.”
Up until a few days ago, his main hobby had been “working out, five days a week.”
What a difference a few days makes.
“I have my new baby now,” he said. “That’s going to be my new hobby.”
Mobley comes to the Adam’s Mark after four and a half years with ADT Security Services, which provides commercial, business and home security. Before that, he was with the Jacksonville Beach Police Department.
“I definitely prefer this,” he said. “I prefer the private sector, that’s for sure.”
As director of security, Mobley oversees the security staff of two supervisors and eight security officers under them.
“My primary responsibility is to make sure they’re carrying out the duties of ensuring the safety of the guests,” he said.
Mobley was nearly at the end of his four-year enlistment with the Marine Corps when he knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.
He had originally worked embassy duty at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Guam, Okinawa and the Philippines.
“I enjoyed it,” he said. “Especially Guam. It’s a beautiful little island.”
As his unit was being disbanded because of budget cuts, Mobley was temporarily assigned to the military police.
“That was at Camp Pendleton right before I got out [in 1989],” he said. “That’s when I kind of figured out what I wanted to do.”
Mobley has lived in the area practically his whole life. He was born in Rose Hill, N.C., and moved here when he was three years old. He grew up in Mandarin.
Conceding that his response may sound “so cliche,” the draw of law enforcement for him “really was helping people. It was interaction with people. Generally, when they call you, they’re in need of something.
“So that was the big part for me.”
His time on the Jacksonville Beach force was “very good,” he said. He couldn’t say the same about the assignment that preceded it, from 1990 to the first half of 1992.
“That’s when I worked in Atlanta for the City of Atlanta Police Department,” Mobley said. “It was a little crazy then. When I was there, it was the murder capital of the country.
“I wasn’t in the worst part of Atlanta, though. It was probably the third-worst part. But you see a lot in a short amount of time.”
Life improved considerably when he left and took the job in Jacksonville Beach.
“It was a major difference when I left, going from such a huge department to a relatively small one,” he said. “I liked the change.”
His primary reason for leaving Jacksonville Beach, he said, was to finish his education. He will complete the requirements for a bachelor’s degree in business management next month.
“This is where I wanted to come to once I completed school,” said Mobley, who doesn’t intend to open his own company. “Working in corporate security and that type area is where my interests really are.”
Guests, and the public in general, help security officers when they pay more attention to what’s going around them. That has been particularly evident over the past two years.
“I think people are more conscious, more aware now,” said Mobley. “Certainly, Sept. 11 heightened everyone’s awareness.”
Security details don’t minimize the potential for problems from any quarter, but it is the home-grown miscreants they are most concerned about.
“Yes, we are more concerned with keeping the bad guys out of the building,” said Mobley. “That would be the primary focus of the security force.
And, he added, if most guests feel secure when they check into the Adam’s Mark, “We’ve done our job if that’s what you assume.”