Eastern States Exposition welcomes Cliff Hedges as director of Public Safety

By | February 19, 2019

West Springfield, Mass. — Eastern States Exposition (ESE) announces that Cliff Hedges, of Longmeadow, Mass., has joined ESE and will serve as the organization’s director of Public Safety. 

Hedges has an extensive, 31-year background in federal and local law enforcement, having retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigations in 2012 after 26 years as special agent and a supervisory special agent; spending 21 of those years in the FBI’s Springfield office. He also served as a patrolman and subsequently a detective on the Crimes Against Persons Unit with the Dallas, Texas, Police Department.

Gene Cassidy, ESE president and CEO, said, “I am very pleased to welcome Cliff Hedges to the important role of director of Public Safety. Cliff brings his career of experiences at the highest levels in U.S. law enforcement to Eastern States Exposition. This will enhance our capacity to manage The Big E and the myriad of events that take place on the grounds.”

Hedges, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, comes to the Exposition from his most recent position as regional director of Compliance and Privacy at Regional Care Capella HealthCare in Brentwood, Tennessee. He was a healthcare compliance, privacy and risk specialist focusing on State and Federal regulatory guidance, rules and regulations.

A graduate of Kentucky’s University of Louisville, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Justice Administration. He also holds a Master of Science in Communications & Information Management from Bay Path University, where he was an adjunct professor of Criminal Justice.

He received the Presidential Integrity Achievement Award for Investigations for his work on the public corruption initiative in Springfield. He has also received multiple awards from the Department of Justice and the US Attorney’s Office for investigative techniques and a Special Team award from the New England Narcotics Association.

He is also the 2002 recipient of the Cliff Zundel Citizen of the Year for the Town of Longmeadow for his involvement in girls’ youth sports.