4:38 PM HAPPY BIRTHDAY To Dothan's TOP COP

Rickey Stokes

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Posted by: RStokes
[email protected]
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Date: Apr 25 2024 5:11 PM

DOTHAN:    RSN would like to give a shout out to Dothan's TOP COP, Police Chief Will Benny.

Today is his birthday which is celebrated in meetings today and tomorrow! What a great birthday present.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIEF BENNY

On March 1, 2021 Alabama Supreme Court Justice Brad Mendheim administered the Oath of Office as for Will Benny to become Dothan's Police Chief. His wife, Shea, held the Bible as Will Benny took the oath of office.

Following the swearing in Chief Benny said he expected himself and the members of the Dothan Police Department to have a community relationship, be trusted and be transparent.

This March started Will Benny's fourth year as Dothan's Top Cop. He followed Steve Parrish who retired as Dothan Police Chief.

During the tenure of Will Benny he has had a focus of increasing the wages for Dothan Police Officer's to a sufficient pay for the job they perform. And with that increase and a complete support from Dothan City Manager Kevin Cowper, Will Benny has had a recruitment phase to bring the Dothan Police Department to a staffing level to ensure the safety and security of the citizens and guests of Dothan.

While serving as Chief of Police, Steve Parrish had a vision of a police academy in Dothan for law enforcement officers for Dothan and the wiregrass. Serving as Major with Chief Parrish, Will Benny shared that same vision. That was a project when sworn in as Chief of Police that Will Benny began working on. And it was accomplished under Will Benny's leadership to where new officers and officers from other areas attend police academy to become certified at the Wiregrass Training Center in Dothan.

As Police Chief you are not often on the streets performing law enforcement duties yourself. You are setting policy and guidelines and working to provide tools for the men and women of the Dothan Police Department to better serve the community. While RSN will not name some of those technological tools, during Will Benny's tenure he has been able to make technological advances within the department to better serve and protect.

Chief Benny has said when he makes policy decisions he ponders over how that decision will affect the men and women in patrol who are working all day or all night. Does this decision help or hurt them in the performance of their duties and will that decision have a negative impact on those officers. Chief Benny also ponders what can be done to cut some of the paperwork load of those officers to where they can be more proactive in preventing crime. Chief Benny prefers to prevent the crime before it happens then solve it. But accurate statistics on what you prevented is impossible to measure.

As Dothan Police Chief, Will Benny is responsible for a staff of about 300 people. This includes about 200 sworn law enforcement officers, detention officers, communications officers, animal control, school security officers, and support staff for the department. Being a Police Chief is 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Always connected by that electronic leash called a cell phone.

As a Police Chief or Sheriff you are never really off duty. While you might not be physically present you are always connected by that leash called a cell phone. You can ask most Police Chief's or Sheriff's, their number one thing they look forward to on retirement is not having a cell phone. So while Chief Benny might not be seen on a crime scene, information and frequent updates are made to him and others serving on the command staff.

In his off time, Will and Shea Benny enjoy hunting, fishing, spending time with friends and just relaxing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIEF!

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