With more than 34 years of experience to his credit, Nathaniel J. Allen has excelled as the chief of police for the city of Decatur since 2016
DECATUR, AL, December 20, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Nathaniel J. Allen has been inducted into Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
With more than 34 years of experience to his credit, Mr. Allen has excelled as the chief of police for the city of Decatur since 2016, a post in which he is responsible to 200 employees and 56,000 residents residing in the state's eighth largest city. Initially beginning his career at the WBIR Channel 10 television station, he shifted his focus and joined the Knoxville Police Department as a patrol officer in 1986. He spent five years as patrol officer and a member of the Metro Narcotics Crimes Unit before he advanced through the ranks to Deputy Chief. In 2015 he was promoted to Deputy Chief of Police making him the first African American to ever hold this rank. Mr. Allen also served the Knoxville Police Department as a public information officer from 1995 to 2016.
In 2000, Mr. Allen was promoted to the rank of Captain and appointed Commander over the Knoxville Police Department's East District Patrol Division which is comprised of 51 square miles and 63 thousand residents. Accomplished in the areas of Community Policing and Critical Incident Response, he refocused the East District's crime reduction program toward more of a crime prevention/community oriented policing model. He enhanced the District's Community Oriented Policing Strategy by empowering beat officers with the responsibility of solving community problems with the help of community members. Mr. Allen was promoted to staff officer for the chief of police with the Knoxville Police Department in 2004, garnering further firsthand experiences and skills managing a 54 million dollar budget and a large police department. During this time, he provided his expertise on Homeland Security initiatives and special projects as the executive to the chief in the Office of the Chief of Police.
Displaying exceptional results in management, community involvement, communication, conflict resolution, and problem solving. Mr. Allen became active as the commander of the criminal investigation's violent and property crimes unit and a homeland security coordinator for the Knoxville Police Department between 2012 and 2016.
A firm believer of Community Oriented Policing since the early 1990s, Mr. Allen has striven to establish trust between his respective police organizations and communities through establishing relationships and police legitimacy. Likewise, he has discovered the importance of gaining support from his community as well as his command staff. Mentored by multiple chiefs of police throughout his career, he has leveraged his desire to consistently learn and better himself professionally in order to reduce his department's liability exposure, encourage the training of his staff, colleagues and superiors, and better his department's financial discipline and diversity. In addition to handling more than $54 million in his annual budget to phenomenal results.
Before embarking on his professional path, Mr. Allen pursued an education at Knoxville College, completing coursework from 1982 to 1985. Subsequently, he obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration in homeland security, magna cum laude, from Northcentral University. Additionally, Mr. Allen continued his studies at the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy in 1999.
Mr. Allen furthered his training graduating from the Police Executive and Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police, the Senior Law Enforcement Command College at Georgia State University, the Criminal Justice Education Leadership Program at the University of Virginia, and Leadership Knoxville. He has also attended courses and seminars for many law enforcement and emergency response disciplines, including the Alabama Law Enforcement Training Academy in 2016, the Anti-Defamation League's Advanced Training School in Extremist and Terrorist Threats in 2014, the Department of Homeland Security's First Responder Resiliency Training in 2013, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Fire Academy Command Incident Management Teams in 2009. Mr. Allen has likewise been certified via the National Incident Management System, Columbus State University, the National Highway Institute, the University of Tennessee Law Enforcement Innovation Center, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Tennessee Hazardous Material Institute, to name only a few.
Beyond his primary responsibilities within the field, Mr. Allen has participated in numerous endeavors outside of his professional circles. He has contributed to the East Tennessee District Two Homeland Security Council as a law enforcement representative. A scene commander during Knoxville's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in 2005, he held the role of a dignitary protection scene commander for the Knoxville Police Department handling presidential visits from George W. Bush in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2015. Mr. Allen found success as an educator as well, having been an instructor for the University of Tennessee Law Enforcement Innovation Center and lectured on homeland security, cultural awareness, police ethics and hate crimes to the Knoxville Police Department.
Currently Mr. Allen has been renowned for aiding his community when in need through the EMS Committee, the Regional Human Trafficking Advisory Council, the Regional Joint Terrorist Task Force Executive Committee and SOS Child Safety Board, for which he remains the chairman, of the Morgan County Children's Policy Council. As a member of various local community groups, he has been integral to the Local Hate Crimes Committee for the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Homeland Security Information Network and Law Enforcement Online. Mr. Allen was further noted as a member of the Knoxville Disproportion Minority Youth Confinement Task Force from 2004 to 2007 and the treasurer of the Knoxville Race Relations Board from 2007 to 2009.
Mr. Allen remains affiliated with various organizations in relation to his areas of expertise as well. Previously appointed to the Nashville Area Maritime Security Council, he has maintained his involvement with the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. He was also associated with the Knoxville chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as a board member from 2004 to 2016. Furthermore, Mr. Allen was a member of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, the Knoxville Area Urban League and the New Covenant Baptist Church.
In light of his exceptional undertakings, Mr. Allen has accrued several accolades throughout his impressive career. He was notably presented with Secret Clearance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was additionally recognized for his Accredited Law Enforcement Experience by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. In 2019, Mr. Allen received a formal award from the aforementioned commission, more commonly known as CALEA for leading the Decatur Police Department to achieve their national accreditation from CALEA.
Among the myriad accomplishments to his name, Mr. Allen has made many acclaimed changes to the Decatur and Knoxville Police Departments. He has created a Safety Education Unit for Neighborhood Watch programs, implemented radiological detection systems for large-scale events, and partnered with Decatur Youth Services to provide Christmas gifts to children in need. Moreover, he has required his officers to become involved with Community Oriented Policing and increased the presence of civilian staff, including hiring a crime analysts, public information officers, and civilian crime scene technicians.
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