Sam Dotson

Doyle Samuel Dotson III is the Chief of Police for the Amtrak Police Department. He was previously St Louis' Police Commissioner from 2013 to 2017.^[3]

Sam Dotson
Chief of Police for the Amtrak Police Department
Incumbent
Assumed office July 2020
Preceded by	Neil Trugman
34th Commissioner of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
In office December 14, 2012 – April 17, 2017
Director of Public Safety	Charlene Deeken
Mayor of St. Louis	Francis Slay and Lyda Krewson
Preceded by	Daniel Isom
Succeeded by	John Hayden Jr.
Director of Security for the Washington Nationals
In office April 2018 – July 2018
Succeeded by	Scott Fear
Assistant Chief of Police for the Amtrak Police Department
In office Aug 2018 – July 2020
Personal details
Born	Doyle Samuel Dotson III 1969 (age 55–56)[1] St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Spouse	Deanna Venker ​ (m. 2019)​ [2]
Residence(s)	Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Missouri
Alma mater	Webster University (BA) Fontbonne University (MBA)

Early life and education

Dotson is a 1987 graduate of Metro Academic and Classical High School.^[4][5] He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Management from Webster University and a Masters in Business Administration from Fontbonne University.^[6][7][8] He is a graduate of the Senior Management Institute for Police.

Career

Dotson joined the Metropolitan Police Department, City of St. Louis on October 11, 1993; he was assigned to the Fourth District. In 2001, he was promoted to sergeant where he served in the office of the Chief and the Ninth District. In 2007, he was promoted to lieutenant where he served in the office of the Chief. In 2008, he was promoted to captain where he served in the office of the Chief, the Seventh District, and the Board of Police Commissioners. Prior to being named Police Commissioner, he served as the city's operations director.^[9][10][11]

He became St. Louis' 34th Police Commissioner on December 14, 2012. In 2016 he stood for Mayor of St. Louis.^[12] He resigned as Police Commissioner on April 17, 2017, when Lyda Krewson became Mayor.^[13] After that he worked as Director of Security for the Washington Nationals baseball team,^[14] before being appointed in October 2018 as assistant chief of police for Amtrak.^[3]

Personal and family life

Dotson disclosed that for years he had been estranged from his mother, who in 2018 was convicted for theft of over $2 million from a real estate company.^[15]