Chief John Blackburn--Dallas Independent School District Chief of Police John Blackburn has more than 30 years of municipal and school policing experience in Texas. After a distinguished career with the Houston Police Department, he began his service to the Houston ISD in 1994 and became the district's chief of police in November 2000. He took command of the Dallas ISD Police and Security Services Department in May of 2006. His focus in Dallas ISD is to raise the performance standards of the department and to complete the transition to a professionally operated, municipal-style school police department.

Chief Blackburn was highly instrumental in the reforms that made the HISD Police Department one of the foremost school district law enforcement agencies in the nation. He was directly involved in such changes as expanded jurisdiction, community oriented policing and problem solving, and raising the level of professionalism in the department. These resulted in the HISD achieving a marked decline in violent crimes and a greatly improved atmosphere of safety. Under Chief Blackburns leadership, HISD became the first nationally accredited school district police department in the country.

Prior to his service with HISD, Chief Blackburn retired from HPD with 23 years of service, during which he was involved in many areas of policing, including patrol, training, and investigations. In his last assignment with HPD, he supervised the Centralized Gang Task Force of the Juvenile Division. He was involved in the supervision of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program and designed the Inhalant Abuse Intervention Unit, for which he received national recognition.

Chief Blackburn is a native Texan; however, he graduated from high school in Kodiak, Alaska. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Houston, Downtown and earned a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice Management from Sam Houston State University.

The chief is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and is a trained mediator. He has taught criminal justice courses as an adjunct instructor for the Houston Community College System for many years and was a management-training instructor for employees of HISD. Additionally, he is a recognized speaker at national conferences on topics related to school safety and emergency preparedness.