Pubdate: Tue, 17 Apr 2007
Source: Austin American-Statesman (TX)
Copyright: 2007 Austin American-Statesman
Contact:  http://www.statesman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/32
Author:  Elizabeth Campbell

RETIRED DEA ADMINISTRATOR SAYS HE'S PREPARED TO LEAD THE AUSTIN 
POLICE DEPARTMENT

Candidate Began His 32-Year Law Enforcement Career In Texas

Community policing starts at the top, says Donnie R. Marshall, one of 
the nine finalists to be Austin's new chief of police.

If he is selected to lead the Austin Police Department, one of his 
top priorities will be connecting with as many Austinites as 
possible, particularly in the minority and business communities and 
with church and civic leaders.

Donnie Marshall Finalist served as DEA administrator under President Bush.

* Interview with Donnie R. Marshall

* Police chief search: Interviews, biographies and more "I would be 
involved in the community really 24 hours a day minus my sleeping 
time," said Marshall, who served as head of the 11,000-person U.S. 
Drug Enforcement Administration from 1999 to 2001.

Understanding the interests of the diverse Austin community and 
promoting that same understanding within the police force is 
necessary to have a successful department, the 60-year-old said.

The department's use of force, particularly deadly force, would be 
the first real policy he would examine if he becomes chief, Marshall 
said. The department has drawn criticism in recent years for its 
disproportionate use of force against minorities.

Marshall's DEA leadership is not totally parallel to heading a local 
police department but has many similarities, he said.

Those differences raise concerns with Nelson Linder, president of the 
Austin National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"Coming in from a federal standpoint would be a major disadvantage 
given the fact that, at that level, you are very much disconnected 
from a lot of the local issues," Linder said. "On a local level, a 
police chief here would deal with union issues, civil service law, 
and also police brutality and misconduct."

While serving as DEA administrator under Presidents Clinton and 
George W. Bush, Marshall says he promoted cooperation with state and 
local law enforcement to help community action groups with their drug 
prevention, education and treatment efforts.

He helped establish Red Ribbon Week, a nationwide drug awareness program.

Marshall supported community efforts to combat drug problems, said 
Calvina Fay, executive director of Drug Free America Foundation, a 
national and international organization that promotes effective 
anti-drug policies and strategies.

Fay worked with Marshall and described his leadership style as "a 
combination of informal, easy to access him, but yet formal enough 
that he was respected and in command."

Born in Dallas in 1947, Marshall worked his way through Stephen F. 
Austin State University as a firefighter in Nacogdoches. He began his 
career as a DEA special agent in Dallas and Houston and came to 
Austin in 1972 to lead the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement, a 
combined task force of local, state and federal officers. In addition 
to his administrative duties, Marshall worked as an undercover 
officer. He worked closely with leaders in the Austin department.

Marshall led by example in his work ethic and his integrity, said 
Milton Shoquist, who served as an Austin police officer from August 
1964 until he left to work for the DEA in 1977.

"He always used good common sense and good judgment in his approach 
to investigations and dealing with people," Shoquist said. "People 
followed him because of his abilities and his leadership."

After Austin, Marshall coordinated the DEA's efforts in Brazil for 
four years before returning to the DEA in the U.S.

Marshall moved to the private sector in 2001 and worked in executive 
positions at three security companies that cater to mostly government 
agencies. Most recently, Marshall worked as president and general 
manager of Omnisec International Investigations Inc. He is retired.

Marshall, who is married and has three children, described his time 
in Austin as "probably the best three years that I spent in my career."

"It's always been a dream of mine to come back to Austin because they 
treated me so very well as a young man," Marshall said, "and I didn't 
know much about Austin at the time, and I just fell in love with it."
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