Latimer to retire after over 32 years of service

News

Wednesday, 26 March 2025 11:30

In just a few days, Scottsboro Police Chief Ron Latimer will walk out of his office for the last time.
Latimer says that he always knew he wanted to be in law enforcement. Growing up, his father worked as an officer at the Miami Dade Police Department. His father worked in patrol and investigations. Latimer spent his childhood in the presence of fellow law enforcement officers.

Latimer began his career with the Scottsboro Police Department 32½ year ago, in November 1992, just a few months after graduating from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.

When Latimer began at the Scottsboro Police Department, he worked patrol on night shift. Back then, investigations weren’t promotions, but rather they were assignments. After 10 months in patrol, Latimer was assigned to investigations, where he remained for 13 years, rising to the rank of Captain.

Following former Chief of Police Keith Smith’s retirement in 2006, Ralph Dawe was appointed Chief of Police. In January 2007, Latimer was promoted to Major of Operations, a position that is essentially Assistant Police Chief. He remained in that position for 12 years before Dawe retired in 2019. Upon Dawe’s retirement, Latimer was appointed to serve as interim police chief and was officially hired into the position in April 2021.

About Latimer’s official hiring Dawe stated, “Ron has the knowledge, integrity, leadership skills and training to make him the most qualified person to lead our police department to better serve our community and to ensure that every law enforcement officer working under his direction is getting adequate training to provide the best service, professionalism and dedication for protecting and servicing the citizens of Scottsboro.”

In addition to Smith and Dawe, Latimer has worked under many meaningful names at Scottsboro Police Department, including Clarence Bolty and Jim Miller.

Latimer says that throughout his career both Smith and Dawe were great mentors to him. Working under Dawe for 13 years in investigations and 14 years under Dawe as Chief, he mentored him a lot. Latimer stated that the two worked together on a lot of cases and got along really well.

Latimer’s real passion was in homicide. He felt that that’s where he did the most good from the beginning to the end of each of those cases. He was the lead investigator on five homicide cases and has been an essential part in every homicide case since beginning his career. Latimer said that although homicide was his passion, one of the hardest parts of the job was notifying family members of their loved one’s death. Latimer’s cases have led him to Federal Court, Chicago, and to other counties within the state.

Latimer will leave behind a legacy of being a working brass member. No matter his rank, he was always there to back up fellow officers. When former Scottsboro Police Department Captain Erik Dohring began his career, Latimer was a Lieutenant in investigations and was hands-on.

Dohring said of Latimer, “As he was promoted, he never changed. Even as Chief of Police, he was always approachable, always willing to help and always willing to give guidance. No matter what, if there was a chance that his officers were in danger, he would come out and work on the front lines, side by side with us, leading by example.”

Latimer says what he’ll miss the most during retirement are his fellow officers.

He continued, “This department has come a long way since 1992. We were working with paper and pens back then. We then progressed to word processors and then to computers in patrol vehicles. Now we have all the newest technology at our fingertips. Everything is pretty much a digital record.”

Since Latimer became police chief, the department has gotten license plate readers, a new records management software program in the jail, a new records system and body cameras.

“I’m excited about the progress within the department. We’re not remaining stagnant and we aren’t backing up. I feel like we’re moving forward. At one point the department was down 10 officers, and now we are only down four. The council and mayor have been gracious enough to raise starting pay, shift differential pay, and decrease family coverage insurance. They’re provided better benefits.

In fact, we’ve gotten a lot. I’ve done a lot of re-hires; people that left here to better themselves have come back, and so that says a lot about a department. From the start of 2019 to now we’ve hired over 55 police officers. I mean, I know that sounds like a lot of turnover, but that’s including a lot of rehires. We’ve also had a lot of retirements. I think we’re trending back, we’re getting good advocacy, and more people seem to be in interested. It’s starting to turn. We went through a phase from 2020 to 2024 where we were getting the number of applicants we used to get, nor were we getting good quality applicants. I see that trend changing just within the last year,” stated Latimer.

He continued, “I feel like I’ve completed what I set out to do here.”

Latimer says that he is excited to see what the future holds and is looking forward to spending more time with family. Unlike the two Chiefs of Police before him, Latimer has no intentions of entering politics.

Latimer stated, “I’ve been blessed with this career. I’m honored that the citizens of Scottsboro let me serve. I’m thankful to them. I’m also thankful to the men and women of this department. We have really good people here, and it’s been a great place to work.”

 

by Heather Dohring