Fortuna Police Chief Dobberstien Honored by Local Chiefs’ Assn.

Retiring Fortuna Police Chief William Dobberstein received a plaque acknowledging his accomplishments from LECAH President Humboldt County Sheriff Willam Honsal, Jr. [Photo submitted]

Fortuna Police Chief William Dobberstein was honored by the Law Enforcement Chiefs Association of Humboldt (LECAH) at its monthly meeting on Wednesday, January 15^th, for his service to the County of Humboldt, and to that organization.  A plaque acknowledging his accomplishments was presented by LECAH president Humboldt County Sheriff Willam Honsal, Jr.

Dobberstein, who will retire from his job as Fortuna’s Police Chief this coming Friday, has served on LECAH since 2011 as its treasurer.

He has served as Chief of Police for the City of Fortuna for the past eight and a half years; the average time served by most police chiefs in the state of California is four years.

During his term as Chief, Dobberstein strengthened ties between other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the County.  He has also helped to strengthen the cooperation with other agencies such as the Fortuna Volunteer Fire department, and the federal Bureau of Investigation.

Through these partnerships, he has been able to secure many resources that were not previously available to local law enforcement, at no additional to cost to Fortuna, or the County of Humboldt.

He has also been responsible for bringing many specialized training opportunities to the Northcoast that previously necessitated having to travel to the San Francisco Bay Area or Sacramento.

Many of these training are now open to agencies outside of law enforcement, such as this week’s, three-day, Tactical Critical Care course being taught in Fortuna to dozens of local emergency responders..

This formerly law enforcement only course is being taught to law enforcement, fire and emergency medical personnel, at no cost to our City or County.   Dobberstein was able to secure this free training through an agreement between the Police department, and the US military training division.

In, 2018, he secured an advanced Crime Prevention training for local agencies from the International Society of Crime Prevention Practitioners, which included students from many of the local police agencies, as well as some from as far away as the United Kingdom.

Dobberstein’s 25 year law enforcement career ends with many similar achievements.