Dalton mourns loss of Public Safety Commissioner

Mr. William B. “Bill” Weaver addresses a citizens group at the Dalton Police Department in this picture from 2011.

DALTON, Georgia (WDEF) – Dalton is mourning the loss of a Public Safety Commissioner today.

Bill Weaver died on Friday at the age of 87.

Weaver came to the area 60 years ago to teach at Dalton High.

He did that for 15 years before moving into administration, retiring as a deputy superintendent of schools.

But then he moved into public service.

Weaver was appointed to the city’s Public Safety Commission in 2007 and became the chairman.

He finally stepped down from that position in 2021, but remained on the commission.

In fact, he was at last Tuesday’s meeting.

“He was engaged, he was always engaged in what he did,” said Truman Whitfield, chairman of the Public Safety Commission, who worked with Mr. Weaver both on the commission and also during his career as a police officer. “You could always depend on him to give you an insightful opinion that was logical and well thought out. He was thorough in everything that he did. He was just a fine gentleman.”

“He was well respected by everybody both in the private sector and the government sector. He was the consummate professional,” said Dalton police chief Cliff Cason. “He knew a little bit about everything, and he was really good at dealing with the human aspects of what we deal with. He was just someone you could run ideas by who would give you feedback and often times point you in the right direction.”

“If I had to sum up Mr. Weaver in one word, it would be ‘professional,’” said Dalton fire chief Todd Pangle. “He had very high expectations for our departments, for the service provided to the city and the citizens of the city. He stated what his expectations were but he stood out of the way and let you do your job. He never let me forget his expectations, but he let me do it my way and for that I was very appreciative.”

Dalton has postponed a planned meeting today between the Public Safety Commission and the city Council out of respect for Bill Weaver.