Story by Hunter Jones

At the end of the March 24 city council meeting, several members of the city council expressed their appreciation for Ron Latimer, who retired effectively April 1. Councilwoman Donna Frederick refers to Latimer as “a man of few words,” to which Latimer simple replies ‘thank you’ at first, allowing a laugh before stepping up to the podium to share a few words.

“Thank you to the men and women of the police department, past and present. Thank you all, the citizens of Scottsboro, it’s been an honor to serve you. I’m not going anywhere, I’m staying in Scottsboro so I’ll be around and you can holler at me anytime you need something,” Latimer said.

As he speaks, he has to raise his head and stop a moment, flooded with emotion speaking of his career and the people who helped him get so far.

“(I was thinking) about the people, that’s really it. In this job, you meet a lot of people. You just start thinking about things like that and the relationships you’ve made,” Latimer said. 

Latimer grew up in Miami, Florida. The son of a police officer, the call for him to follow in his father’s footsteps happened in his senior year of high school. In college, Latimer attended the University of Alabama, meeting his future wife, Lana.

After graduating, Latimer got a job at the Scottsboro Police Department in October 1992, starting from a police officer and now, 32 and a half years later, retiring as Police Chief.

When thinking back to his first impression of Scottsboro, he much preferred the slower paced, small town feel as opposed to the big cities where he grew up. The natural beauty of Jackson County didn’t hurt, either.

When reflecting on his career, he does not focus much on individual accolades, rather thinking of the people he has worked with, the community he has served and the importance of calling it a career having only served in one department, a rare feat nowadays.

“It tells you how much I really enjoy this department, the people that work here along with the citizens of the city. I enjoy serving them. It’s kind of rare nowadays to see officers stay in one location but that’s something that I’m proud of,” Latimer said.

While he enjoyed the job as Police Chief, he admits that working in investigations was his passion, enjoying the role of developing leads, connecting with victims and the cat and mouse aspect of the role.

The decision to retire came going into the new year. Latimer believed it was both the right time to step away and that the department was being left in a good spot.

A lot has changed during his time here as well. Pen and paper with hand-written reports have now all moved to computer screens and keyboards. Officers now have access to better training than ever, with the rise of the Internet allowing officers around the country to better receive information and changes in practice quicker. 

While serving as police chief, Latimer has worked to keep the ever-growing technology up to date, including a new records management system that the department switch to last year. They’ve also installed license plate camera readers in the city and even now, the department is working on obtaining body cameras for all officers. However, at times, the job left many in the department stretched thin, largely due to staffing issues, being down as many as ten officers at one point.

“It became increasingly more difficult to recruit qualified applicants and then just the number of applicants went down. In the last year, that seems to have started to trend back up so that’s good news,” Latimer said. “I think the national perception of what was going on at the time with various things in the law enforcement profession (played a role in the decline of applicants). People just weren’t interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement. Again, though, I think that tide is turned and coming back around.”

When asked how he would define his career in a single word, he chose ‘privileged’, feeling fortunate for the people he worked with, for as well as serve.

Once noon hits on his final day, he will leave the office for the final time, ready to get some rest and spend more time with family. After that, his next role will be to find something new.

“I don’t really know what I’m going to do… I’m not going to just go home and sit,” Latimer said.