MACON, Ga. — For every chapter of his life, Curtis Adams remains resilient.
"I'm talking about gangs, killings, shootings, violence," Adams recalls. "Growing up, it was very rough."
He grew up in the inner-city projects of Chicago. Adams said his life at home wasn't the ideal environment for anyone to live in.
"I'm talking about, like, eating dog food out the garbage cans, you know. You didn't have a lot to eat," Adams said.
A new book self-published by Adams, 'Building Bridges,' chronicles his journey from the projects to the top law enforcement officer at the Bibb County School District. In December 2023, Adams was sworn in as the Chief of Police at the Bibb County Schools
The police chief says he remembers his father was in and out of prison for most of his life before he was shot and killed.
"Originally, he'd used to go for fighting, but later on in life he used to start selling drugs so he was a big drug dealer in Chicago," he said.
Through football, Adams sought peace in high school.
But, he said, he remembers an officer who stayed on his campus who bothered Adams.
"'You just like your father, you gon' end up in jail,'" Adams recalled. "Like man, what are you messing with me for? I haven't done anything to you or anybody else."
Adams said countless encounters with police officers traumatized him.
During his adolescence, Adams said the police officers in Chicago were "corrupt" and weren't serving citizens in his neighborhood and community fairly.
Once, he said he was pulled out of a car into the snow as a cop put a gun to his head. Eventually, Adams said, he was let go but not without getting frostbite.
Another time, he was arrested with a group for a crime he said he didn't commit.
While he was hanging out with a group, Adams said a guy pushed a pregnant woman to the ground. Though the man admitted it, Adams said everyone at the scene of the crime was arrested.
"We went to jail, and to this day I have to put that on my records, and I had to get the cases expunged," Adams said. "I had to wait 10 years to get the case expunged for something that I didn't even do."
But Adams didn't give up his resilience.
Now, that story is one of the life lessons he's sharing with students in the Bibb School District, since he started serving as chief in December.
"I knew that I could not keep complaining about the police, because nothing would be done, so I said I'll become a police officer," the police chief said.
Adams graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1992 with a degree in sociology focusing on criminology and a football scholarship.
However, he said he actually had trouble getting a job in law enforcement.
"I think it was divine intervention," Adams said.
Back then, Adams explained, it was tough to land a job as a police officer because "there were waiting lists."
"I don't think it was meant for me to go into policing at that time," he continued. "I don't think my mind was right, because I just hated the police."
So he took roles in the mental health field for a few years, coached football for a while, before joining the Atlanta Police Department.
His career eventually took him to a couple of sheriff's offices in Florida in Pasco and Hillsborough counties.
He returned to Georgia after a handful of years to serve at Atlanta Public Schools.
Adams said he was encouraged to join Bibb County School District after his chief at APS told him he would be a great fit for the position.
Since moving to Central Georgia, Adams has served his community as a police chief with perspective.
"We talk about putting all these charges on children, how it can affect the rest of their lives and their careers," Adams said.
The chief explained his philosophy is to reform and transform the justice system through Building Bridges. That's the title of his self-published book, which you can find here.
"No matter what your job is, what your job title is, it means absolutely zero to me if you're not a good person," Adams said.