GBI’s Trent Hillsman Promoted to Inspector

In a press release, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced that Trent Hillsman has been promoted to detective.

His new duties include overseeing and directing several divisions of the Investigative Division, including the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office, the West Metro Regional Drug Enforcement Office, the West Georgia Gang Task Force, the Metro Gang Task Force, the Special Operations Unit, the Commercial Gambling Unit, and Investigative Computer Services.

“Lieutenant Trent Hillsman is an excellent leader and an experienced agent,” said GBI Director Chris Hosey. “I am honored to appoint him to this position and am confident that Inspector Hillsman will provide strong guidance and support to the units he oversees through his extensive experience and unwavering dedication.”

“Inspector Trent Hillsman has had a positive impact on every unit he has served in since beginning his career with the GBI in 2001,” Director of the Investigations Division Cynthia Adkins said in the release. “He has expertise in several critical areas, including criminal street gangs, illegal drugs, bomb disposal and special operations. His dedication to his colleagues and the community is evident in his work. I know he will serve the agency and the state well as GBI Inspector.”

The press release contains the following biographical information about Hillsman:

Lieutenant Hillsman began his law enforcement career in 1997 as a patrol officer with the University of Georgia Police Department. He was later hired by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy sheriff in 1999. Lieutenant Hillsman joined the GBI in 2001. Since then, he has served as a special agent in the GBI’s Douglas and Athens Regional Investigations Offices, and the GBI Special Operations Unit, eventually being promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Special Operations Unit. He was then promoted to Special Agent in Charge of the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office in 2019, where he served until his promotion to lieutenant.

Lieutenant Hillsman graduated from Piedmont University in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and earned a Master of Public Safety Administration degree from Columbus State University in 2020. Lieutenant Hillsman is a Senior Member of the GBI Bomb Disposal Unit, Team Leader of the Special Enforcement Team, and a member of the GBI Peer Support Team.

Inspector Hillsman is originally from Madison County, GA.