Chief Dan Hoffman was born in Denver, Colorado , and moved to Alaska at the age of thirteen. Dan attended A.J. Dimond High School in Anchorage, graduating in 1983. He then attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, graduating in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Wildlife Biology and a minor in Criminal Justice.
Chief Hoffman took a semester off from UAF in his senior year to attend A.L.E.T. Academy #4 in Sitka, where he graduated as class Valedictorian and Honor Graduate. After serving one season as a Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Officer in Soldotna, Dan returned to Fairbanks where he was hired by the Fairbanks Police Department.
Chief Hoffman has worked at F.P.D. for seventeen years. During that time he has served as a patrol officer, field training officer, tactical team member, patrol sergeant, Investigations Unit supervisor, patrol lieutenant, Statewide Director of Alaska’s Police Corps program, Deputy Chief, and now Chief. Chief Hoffman has also served and is certified as an ASP baton instructor, control tactics instructor, and firearms instructor. Chief Hoffman is a member of the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police, International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Alaska Peace Officers Association.
Chief Hoffman is married to twenty-year police dispatcher Gwen Hoffman (now retired from F.P.D. and working for Doyon) and has two children, Courtney and Casey. Dan enjoys hunting, fishing, playing men’s league hockey, and rock-&-roll drumming. He is currently pursuing his Master’s in Justice Administration through U.A.F.’s on-line Master’s program.