Hawthorne modernized Cedar Hill ISD Police Department

Cedar Hill—When Cedar Hill ISD Police chief James Hawthorne arrived at CHISD, the department had six officers. Over the last nine years it has more than doubled. The department has also lowered reported crime every year since Hawthorne took over in October 2016.

“We’ve been able to deliver much broader service and better service,” Hawthorne said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to have served Cedar Hill.”

Hawthorne, 66, announced his retirement, effective Aug. 31, after 37 years in law enforcement, nine as CHISD police chief and 28 with the city of Arlington where he retired as assistant chief.

“It was a tough decision, but it’s time,” Hawthorne said. “I love law enforcement work. I will miss police work a lot. I’ll miss the people even more. We’ll see what the future holds, if I’m teaching in a classroom somewhere or just being a dad. I’ll have time for more activities and things like that.”

When Hawthorne started with CHISD-PD in the fall of 2016, the department had never successfully referred a case to the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.

He was able to build a strong partnership with the City of Cedar Hill Police Department; they now utilize the same radio system. Other law enforcement agencies are also on that radio system, something that helped prevent a tragedy when Cedar Hill, along with other local officers, responded to a 2022 incident at the Duncanville Fieldhouse.

“That is important because in an actual emergency, seconds count,” Hawthorne said.

Hawthorne played a role in re-writing department policy, including a ban on chokeholds, which had previously only been allowed in life-or-death situations.

All the revised policies were created with the focus of building a better relationship between the department and the community.

“Police work is ever evolving and ever-changing,” Hawthorne said.

After the tragedy in Uvalde in 2022, the state passed legislation that every campus in Texas must have an armed security or police officer.

Hawthorne took it one step farther and ensured that CHISD had a certified police officer at each campus. Fulfilling this mandate required the passage of the 2023 Voter Approved Tax Rate Election (VATRE), which Cedar Hill voters passed by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

Hawthorne was born and raised in Fort Worth. As a teenager and college student, he never dreamed of becoming a police officer, due to his own not-so-positive interactions with police in the early to mid-1970s.

After earning a track & field scholarship to the University of Texas at Arlington, Hawthorne graduated from UTA and started a career as a radio news reporter.

He enjoyed that profession but raising a family would require a better paying job. Hawthorne saw parallels in the interviewing, reporting, and researching skills necessary for both journalism and law enforcement.

Hawthorne decided to apply to the Arlington Police Department where he planned to be an officer for the duration of his career.

“I had a supervisor who saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself, and he encouraged me to step up and become a supervisor in the department,” Hawthorne said.

As he rose from officer to sergeant, lieutenant, deputy chief and eventually assistant chief, Hawthorne realized he had an additional ability to enact positive change in the community.

“I hope that influence has translated into people being treated better in the community,” Hawthorne said.

Hawthorne, who has four children and a grandchild, has been involved in the arts throughout his life. He chaired the annual MLK Celebration in Arlington and is on the board of the Dallas Film Festival. Before the COVID-19 Pandemic, he led the Arlington Film Commission. 

“I hope to find another way to engage in the arts,” Hawthorne said.

SOURCE Cedar Hill Independent School District