Chattanooga Police Chief Bobby Dodd hasn’t been on the job very long, but he’s already brought positive change to the department and to the community. A a man up from the ranks, Dodd seems straight-forward, knowledgeable, unassuming and approachable. Those attributes suggest that he can build the ties with the department’s rank-and-file, with other area law enforcement agencies, with neighborhood groups, with business and civic leaders and with residents that are essential to efficient law enforcement.
Dodd is also frank. He admits, for example, that it would be easier for the department to do its job if it was fully staffed. It is not. The department, he told The Chattanooga Times Free Press in a meeting Monday, currently is down 65 people and 41 are eligible to retire. “The personnel situation,” he said, “is the worst in decades.” Even so, Dodd is confident the department can fulfill its mandate to protect the public. Such assurance is welcome. The department’s main priority, the chief says, is to keep a full complement of patrol officers in the field to respond quickly to emergency calls. Despite the personnel issues, Dodd has done that. He’s even ordered qualified administrative personnel to don uniforms to work in the field when necessary. He’s also beefed up the crime suppression unit, a multiagency force that deals with issues like high-crime areas, gang-related crime and repeat offenders. The unit’s record of arrests attests to its success.
Though more money from the city would be welcome, Dodd said, “we [the police department] were treated well this year” when it came to the budget: it was cut just $1 million, from $49 million to $48 million. In other words, Dodd knows that it makes no sense to complain when other agencies did not fare as well. Consequently, he’ll plan and spend wisely. City residents could ask for no more.
Dodd is aware, too, that the perception of serious crime in Chattanooga is often far different than the reality. Most residents, he says, who go about their business honestly, who are home by 10 or 11 at night, and who lock their doors and windows are unlikely to be victimized. Indeed, most of the crimes here are committed by a relatively few individuals whose ultimate goal is money, whether it be from robberies, drug sales or other criminal activity. The police department’s major efforts are aimed – and properly so – at finding and arresting those individuals and thus protecting the public from them.
Serving the public is difficult, especially when it comes to law enforcement. Dodd and his command staff so far have demonstrated the ability to handle current issues while beginning to plan for the future – a police academy class, personnel needs and changes, opportunities for broader outreach and a commitment to more direct citizen involvement with the department. The new chief’s early momentum is positive. His challenge is to maintain it over a long period.