A call from a concerned citizen Wednesday afternoon sent Maplesville Police Chief Todd Ingram on a hunt for a rabid coyote spotted around the town’s historic Foshee house.

Ingram, who is nearing his sixth year as Maplesville’s police chief, was not fazed by the situation. He got into his car, met the street department’s Kenny Barrett at the house and began a search for the animal.

“We get calls on all kinds of critters,” Ingram said, mentioning raccoons and groundhogs. “Not a lot of wild coyotes.”

The coyote call is only a snapshot of Ingram’s day, an example of the unpredictability that drew him to the job in the first place.

“I still get up and look forward to coming to work,” Ingram said. “You don’t know what to expect every day.”

Before he was hired as chief in December 2006, Ingram was deployed to Iraq as a member of the Army National Guard, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 167th Infantry.

He returned from Iraq in June 2006 and started his job in Maplesville on Jan. 1, 2007.

Ingram has dedicated much of his life to serving his country and fellow citizens.

After graduating from Thompson High School, he joined the Marines from 1984–1988 and then the Army from 1988–1993.

In 1993, he started working for the Birmingham Police Department and stayed there until 2005.

Along with his responsibilities as Maplesville’s chief, Ingram works a regular officer’s shift since the department went from having five officers to four this year.

“The police department has come a long way since I first got here,” he said. “We made the best with the cards we were dealt.”

Ingram said his goal is to protect the community and enforce the law, while also respecting people’s rights and making sure his other officers do the same.

“I don’t want to infringe on people’s rights,” Ingram said. “I love Maplesville and (its) citizens. I want the community to be a place where they can raise their kids … I don’t want them to walk around in fear.”

Ingram and his wife, Alicia, recently built a house in Maplesville. They have three children, Archie, 2; Addie, 4; and Kurt, 25, of Alabaster.

They also have a granddaughter, Eliot.

“I want to raise my children here,” Ingram said. “Hopefully, I’ll be here until I retire.”