David E Thompson

Police Chief (Ret)

Academically, I graduated from the Florida State University in 1977 with a special certificate in Law Enforcement, and I received my Masters Degree in 1989 from the University of North Florida where I remained as an adjunct professor for more than 20 years. I also taught at police academies, colleges, and professional institutes for more than 30 years. I have published several articles in professional magazines covering physical fitness for law enforcement, police corruption, information technology security issues, dealing with the organizational terrorist, and moral courage.

Professionally, I began my law enforcement career in a city of approximately 12,000 population in North Carolina. I worked as a patrolman, patrol sergeant, detective, and administrative lieutenant. I was also on the Internal Affairs Board, and I was a member of the SWAT team. At one point, I was the department training officer, so it was my job to teach firearms, defensive tactics, emergency driving, police physical fitness, constitutional law, equal employment opportunity, and officer survival. Probably my most significant criminal case in that agency was the interrogation and subsequent confession from a serial killer who had murdered three (3) girls.

In 1983, I was hired as the Chief of Police for a City of about 12,000 population in Florida. I remained the Chief of Police and I eventually became the Director of Public Safety over the fire department and rescue operations, and I became the City Information Technology Director and Emergency Management Director. While in this position, I also remained an instructor and a member of the SWAT team for most of my tenure. I retired after 25 years, and I remained for several more years as an Assistant City Manager and grant writer.

I took a position as a Police Chief in Tennessee for another 5+ years, and I retired from there in 2017. After my second retirement, I worked in private security in the Nashville, Tennessee area until 2021 including executive protection, escorts, professional sports, music venues, and traffic control.

During my career, I spoke at various universities, colleges, professional conferences i.e. International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Florida Police Chiefs’ Association, and I was named the Criminal Justice Professional of the Year by the Southern Criminal Justice Association.

I believe that it is necessary to point out that my ideas are NOT Conservative or Liberal, Republican or Democrat, or right wing/left wing. They are, in fact, my observations, opinions, ideas, lessons, and challenges after more than 40 years of law enforcement and private security. They are not written to support any political party, candidate, or agenda. However, I believe that the ideas will benefit all citizens regardless of political affiliations.