Mark Johnson grew up in Luling, Louisiana, and St. Louis, and graduated from the University of Colorado in 1974. Johnson served as campaign and public relations director for Pikes Peak United Way, executive director of United Way of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, and CEO of the United Way of Southwest Alabama.
After working for United Way for over two decades, in 2002 Johnson chucked it all for a badge and a gun and thirteen bucks an hour with the Mobile Police Department. He was fifty.
As a sworn officer—six years in uniformed patrol, six years as a detective—Johnson received numerous Chief’s and Commander’s citations for meritorious arrests, and received the medal for Excellent Police Duty, the Chief’s Unit Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Wounded in Service Medal. He also received a handful of “performance observations” and citizen complaints, usually related to inappropriate radio traffic, car wrecks and demeanor issues.
Johnson and his wife Nancy have been married for forty years; they are the parents of two and the grandparents of five. They live in Fairhope, Alabama.