YOUR COMMISSIONER   

JIMMIE L. DOTSON

Commissioner Jimmie Dotson has over 30 years of progressive experience in police investigation and law enforcement. He began in 1974 as a patrol officer for the Houston (TX) Police Department, and served in or managed several divisions, including Accident, Vice, Patrol, Training, Internal Affairs, Planning and Research, and the Inspections and Public Integrity Review Group. He also trained the entire police department in alternative self-defense tactics/nightstick batons and assisted in developing the award-winning Crimestoppers Program.

In 1990, he was appointed Assistant Chief of Police over several commands, where he initiated the first Gang Task Force that resulted in a double-digit reduction in gang-related crimes. In February 1997, he was appointed as the Executive Administrative Coordinator and Assistant Chief over the 7,500-person department before retiring in the fall of that year to become the Chief of Police of the Chattanooga (TN) Police Department.

During his seven-year tenure at the Chattanooga Police Department, several accomplishments highlighted Chief Dotson’s career: he restructured the department, initiated the updating of the operating manual and the pension system to maximize effectiveness; he expanded community policing and decentralized operations; and he led the department through a Fear Reduction Strategy, resulting in a decrease in violent crimes by 24%, of non-violent crimes by 18%, and murders by 50%.

He also initiated a 26-week cadet-training program that included Spanish language classes, and obtained $3 million in outside funding to bring modern technology to the department. Soon after arriving in Chattanooga, he commenced the CALEA Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, and led the Chattanooga Police Department to their initial law enforcement accreditation in March 2001.

In addition, Chief Dotson initiated the Chattanooga Police Foundation/100 Club of Greater Chattanooga and collaborated with community organizations to create A Drug-Free Chattanooga…One Community at a Time and the Transformation Project, a faith-based misdemeanor court-release drug offender program. He also encouraged the United Way to implement a minority Leadership Training Program to recruit, train and place minorities on for-profit and not-for-profit boards of directors.

Jimmie received many awards throughout his career including: the Southeastern Community Oriented Policing Education (SCOPE) Institute’s Challenge to Change Project 1998-99 Award; the 1999 Firearms Training Systems (FATS) award from the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE); the NOBLE/Lexis Nexis, 2001 Civil Rights Award for Best Practices in Community Outreach, in recognition of innovation in investigation, elimination and prevention of civil rights violations; and the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police (TACP) – East Tennessee Director of Choice Award in 2004. He has served as National Treasurer of NOBLE; 1st Vice President of TACP; and on the Executive Committee of International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). He has also served on many Boards of Directors including the United Way, the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and the Urban League, among others.

Commissioner Dotson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Houston and a Master’s degree in Liberal Arts. He is also a 1990 graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Governmental Programs for Senior Executives for State and Local Governments.

His appointment to the CALEA Board of Commissioners began in November 2002, where he currently serves on the Standards Review and Interpretation Committee (SRIC) and Review Committee “E.” Jimmie and his wife, Elsa, reside in The Woodlands, Texas.