Mayor Kelly announces advisory panel to help pick new police chief

July 26, 2024

Rainey Randolph,

Courtesy: Mayor Tim Kelly

UPDATE: Friday, July 26,2024, Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly announced the members of the advisory panel helping with his selection of Chattanooga’s next Chief of Police .

The panel is very diverse, including residents throughout the area, individuals from the Chattanooga Police Department, and many more with many different backgrounds.

“I want to thank this group of Chattanoogans for agreeing to volunteer their time to ensure Chattanooga gets the best possible police chief for our community and the Chattanooga Police Department. Together with the input we receive from the community survey, this panel will make sure that Chattanooga’s entire community is well represented in the decision making process,” said Mayor Kelly.

Kelly also went on to thank the chair for the advisory panel, Raquetta Dotley.

Dotley currently serves as the Chair of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee.

The Advisory Panel includes the following community members:

April Bolton (CPD)
Steve Brookes (Downtown Chattanooga Alliance)
Olga De Klein (Highland Park resident)
Michael Dzik (Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga)
Chappell Fowler (Southside resident)
Pat Gray (CPD)
Jain Holmes (CPD)
Ternae Jordan (Mount Canaan Baptist)
Akil Lloyd (Gaylon Heights resident)
Vivian Lozano (La Paz)
Yolanda Massey (CPD)
Jeff Miller (CPD)
Joe Ogg (CPD)
Ben Philyaw (CPD)
Ann Pierre (Chattanooga NAACP)
Ernest Reid (Second Missionary Baptist)
Joe Smith (School Board District 3)
Kristie Wilder (Southern Adventist University School of Social Work)
Heather Williams (CPD)

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly is asking the community to participate in an online survey about the next Chief of Police.

The three-question survey asks Chattanooga residents to rank qualities in a new Chief of Police that they find most important such as experience, community-oriented, leadership skills, and more.

The survey also asks community members to rank areas in which the next Chief of Police should focus on within our city like building strong relations with citizens and crime prevention.

“As we move through the interview process for our Chief of Police candidates, we want to hear from all parts of Chattanooga. I’m asking every Chattanoogan to spend about three minutes to ‘Make your voice heard!’ by taking our brief survey that will help inform the selection of our next Chief of Police.” Mayor Tim Kelly stated.

Go to chattanooga.gov/chief to fill out the survey, and let your voice matter in the process of selecting a new police chief.