The Pensacola Police Trailblazer

An excerpt from the book, “Pensacola’s Finest,” available on Amazon

By Mike Simmons

Dixie Jo – sounds like a name in a movie. That is a southern name. And Dixie is a Southern girl.  Southern girls are known for two things: Sweetness and strength. That describes her. Dixie Kelson was born and raised in Pensacola, which is important to her. One could argue that Dixie IS Pensacola. Her family has been an integral part of the city for many years. Her grandfather, Charles Millard Kelson was a Police officer in the early 1920s until he died in the 1940s from a ruptured appendix surgery. Her uncle, William “Billy” Kelson, was also an officer in the 1940s and 50s. Both of them also served as Constables during their law enforcement days. Her father, Kenneth, served as a City Commissioner and a County Commissioner – rare. 

Kenneth Kelson had a lot of common sense and he used it well to guide the city and the county through rough waters during the 20^th Century. His daughter takes after him. 

As a child, Dixie wanted to train horses and own a horse ranch. She did some of that, owning some horses and living outside of town for a while. But her love for Pensacola and the Pensacola Police Department has always been a part of her, just as her family has – her son Cole and husband Mike Wilkinson, a retired Pensacola Police Sergeant. She began working at the Department when she was a teenager.  In a time when most women were glad that they could get a job, she blazed a trail into a male-dominated world. She started in the Records section but soon transferred to the traditionally male-dominated Crime Scene, which she loved. However, she said that it was not a good feeling when she had to stand next to serial killer Ted Bundy and process his prints. 

Eventually, she supervised the Records division, also normally a “men-only” position. She later transferred to the Communications Section to become a dispatcher. As a dispatcher, Dixie felt what all dispatchers feel. While doing everything in their power to help their police officers, they feel overwhelmed when tragedy strikes and they can’t help or be there. One of Dixie’s low moments was when she lost an officer – something that happened three times to her. She also disliked the long, tired, frustrating hours of working through Hurricane Ivan in 2004. But she, like the dispatchers she supervised, was there for their officers.

While the dispatch arena included women when Dixie started there, it hadn’t for long. It too was male-dominated. Dixie continued working as a dispatcher, but improving conditions there and improving the position itself. She found her niche. She was good at it, and she loved it! Soon, she was promoted to supervisor, becoming the first female in the department to wear stripes on her uniform. Eventually, the department appointed her to an unprecedented position – she was placed over Records and Communications, something that had never been done before or since.

Dixie retired on June 16, 2008, after 35 years of blazing new trails.