January Luncheon:
DeKalb Public Safety Director Miller to Speak

DeKalb Public Safety Director William Miller

William Z. Miller, newly appointed director of Public Safety for DeKalb County, is our Jan. 21 luncheon speaker. Miller was born and raised in Atlanta and has resided in DeKalb County for 20 years. He received his bachelor of science degree (magna cum laude) in Criminal Justice from Georgia State University, Atlanta, and his law degree from Georgia State University College of Law in 2004.

Prior to becoming Public Safety director, Miller prosecuted felony cases as an assistant district attorney in the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, beginning in February 2007. As an assistant district attorney he participated in the challenge to the state’s recently enacted Gang Statute and was the DA’s representative to DeKalb County’s Juvenile Drug Court.

Director Miller began his career in law enforcement with the DeKalb County Police Department in 1984 and worked his way up from a patrol officer at the South Precinct, joined the SWAT team, and worked the entire county as an undercover narcotics investigator. His narcotics unit confiscated record amounts of drugs and assets. In 1997 he was promoted to patrol lieutenant and was the assistant commander of the Morning Watch (11 p.m.-7 a.m.) at the East Precinct, a position and schedule he held for six years. His first promotion (through the testing process) was to sergeant in 1989 in patrol operations. Miller was promoted to captain in 2003, and at that rank, he commanded the Special Operations Division for a year, then field operations at North Precinct, then Youth & Sex Crimes where he developed the department’s first online chat room investigation center. He was appointed major (commander) over the South Precinct in 2004.

As a law enforcement officer, Director Miller was deputy chief over the Program Operations Division of the DeKalb County Police Department. During his last year with the department, he helped stabilize the turnover rate in the Communications Center (which at one point was as high as 12-14 percent); oversaw the advanced technology outfitting of the Police Academy; hosted meetings to implement a “Real Time Crime Center” concept for DeKalb; chaired the Internal Review Board, which still reviews all uses of deadly force and in-custody deaths; and drafted revisions to the department’s Use of Force policy.

The departments under his direction include: Animal Services, Code Enforcement, 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Center, DeKalb Emergency Management Agency, Police Department, Fire & Rescue Services, DeKalb County Recorder’s Court, and the Medical Examiner’s office. Director Miller’s mission, as the head of Public Safety, is to provide the highest quality public safety services to the citizens of DeKalb County. He believes that these departments will be able to work together through communication and coordination by sharing a number of resources, thus improving the efficiency of the services they provide.