By By Paul Keane
Publisher
From dispatcher to captain, Jason Dean has seen and been involved in nearly every aspect of the Atmore Police Department. After being selected as the city's new Police Chief during Monday's City Council meeting, Dean now gets the chance to run the department.
Ironically enough, Dean was unable to attend the meeting where he was named acting chief of the department. Instead, he was out on a call with some of his patrolmen.
Dean will serve as acting chief until he earns and receives all of the necessary certifications to serve as chief. Those certifications traditionally take about a year, and Dean, 35, has been working on them for the last three months.
"I want to keep things moving forward in the department," Dean said. "I believe that having been in the department for the past 13 years should help with the transition and help us move forward."
Public Safety Director Glenn Carlee said Dean brings a wealth of experience to the department.
"He began here as a dispatcher and has worked his way up," Carlee said. "And, for the last three months, I've pretty much let him have the run of the operation over here.
"He knows the operations of this department and the know the workings of the department, both of which gives him an advantage over bringing in someone from outside the department. He also has earned the respect of the officers and has displayed good leadership."
Dean graduated from Escambia County High School and attended Jefferson Davis Community College before entering the Police Academy in Bay Minette. He said he plans on being a "hands on" type chief.
"I'm going to have both administrative duties and duties that will require me to be out in the public," he said. "But if I'm needed to go out on a call, then I'm just going to pick up and go in order to help out any way that I can."