Department of Commerce NOAA Fisheries
Office for Law Enforcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2004

DALE JONES SELECTED AS DIRECTOR OF NOAA ENFORCEMENT

Last month, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) announced the appointment of Dale J. Jones as Director for the Office for Law Enforcement (OLE). The director position was recently upgraded to the Senior Executive Service (SES) level.

Jones had been serving as the Chief of Enforcement at the OLE for the last five years. While working with NOAA Fisheries OLE, he has been instrumental to the success of a variety of OLE programs.

Over the past five years his leadership was instrumental in the re-engineering of the Vessel Monitoring System Program and expanding it into all NOAA regions. His work with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies brought OLE through both their first accreditation in 2000 and subsequent re-accreditation in 2003.

Jones' dedication to safety led him to develop numerous new procedures and increase secure radio capabilities for the agency. He has also increased in-service training and encouraged direct communication from all 222 OLE employees.

He was instrumental in engineering the Joint Enforcement Agreement, which has led to new initiatives and the dedication of resources to ensure the success of the JEA.

Following the attacks on September 11th, Jones' professionalism and dedication to law enforcement were proven again as the OLE committed various resources and agents to assist other agencies in the recovery and investigative efforts at the World Trade Center, Boston and border protection. NOAA Fisheries OLE also provided 21 special agents to the Federal Aviation Administration to serve as air marshals.

Prior to coming to the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, he was the Chief of Police for Hagerstown, Maryland.

NOAA Fisheries is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation's living marine resources through scientific research, management, enforcement, and the conservation of marine mammals and other protected marine species and their habitat.

The Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the predication and research of weather and climate- related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources.