Betty Dillard
Kim Lemaux, deputy police chief for Arlington, has been appointed chief of the University of Texas at Arlington Police Department, effective July 1. Lemaux has more than three decades of law enforcement experience and expertise in training, operations and event safety management. A UT Arlington alumna, Lemaux earned her undergraduate degree in business management. She is currently working toward a master’s degree in security management through American Public University. At UT Arlington, she will lead a department that includes 38 sworn officers, 56 guards, police communications and emergency management staff and oversee a $6.7 million annual budget. UT Arlington President James D. Spaniolo called Lemaux’s law enforcement credentials impressive, noting her significant background in training, criminal analysis and strategic planning. Her extensive experience in community-based policing and collaborations with the Texas Rangers Baseball Club and the Dallas Cowboys, among other major organizations, made her the ideal candidate to lead the University’s police force, he said. “Chief Lemaux has a deep and diverse law enforcement background in all facets of law enforcement,” Spaniolo said. “She is a consummate professional and a leader who is deeply invested in our community and our university.” Lemaux began her law enforcement career as an Arlington police dispatcher in 1982. The following year, she became a patrol officer. By 1985, she was teaching future colleagues as a field training officer. She was promoted to deputy chief in 2001. In recent years, she has supervised patrol divisions, investigative services and technical services. Her current responsibilities as the department’s senior command staff executive include leading an operational bureau of 121 staff members and an annual budget of $14 million. Among her many achievements, Lemaux said she is most proud of her work with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, or TCLEOSE, to help craft statewide curriculum for basic police academies. At UT Arlington, Lemaux said she will work to provide a safe environment for all students, faculty and staff. “I want to build our capacity to make UT Arlington the safest and most secure campus it can be,” she said. “Coming from an organization that deeply values community-based policing and collaboration with other organizations is going to help me immensely.” Her focus will include increasing campus security, maintaining excellence through the department’s ongoing accreditation efforts, professional development for the department and further developing the university’s emergency planning efforts.