Walton County Sheriff's Office welcomes new Emergency Management leadership

On Aug. 12, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office appointed Captain Joe Preston as the division chief and director of emergency management and public safety communications.

Preston has more than nine years experience with the Walton County Sheriff's Office and prior to that served with the Clay County Sheriff's Office in Kansas City, Mo. Prior to entering law enforcement, he spent 20 years in the corporate world with the Fairbanks Scale Company as director of service operations and the Hill-Rom Company as executive director of service operations. His experience lies in managing large de-centralized operations on a national scale.

Preston has experience at Walton County as a deputy, sergeant of patrol, sergeant of traffic, and most recently as commander of the training unit. He holds various trainer/instructor certifications in topics as diverse as firearms instruction, defensive tactics, communications, DUI instruction, traffic crash investigation, and traffic homicide investigation.

In addition, he is an adjunct instructor for the CJSTC Basic Recruit Academy at North West Florida State College where he instruct in topics like line supervision, middle management, traffic crash investigations, criminal investigations, communications, and firearms. His diverse background brings a unique blend of business acumen and law enforcement experience to the agency.

Beginning Sept. 9 Russell Beaty has been selected as the manger of emergency management. Beaty began his career with the Pensacola Fire Department in 1983 as a firefighter/EMT. He progressed through the ranks working in the fire suppression, rescue, and arff branches as well as the fleet/facility management and communications divisions.

In July of 2005 Beaty was promoted to battalion chief and assumed the responsibility for the training division and domestic security section. In May of 2007 he transferred back to the suppression branch as the chief of “B” battalion while maintaining oversight of the domestic security section.

In October 2008 he was promoted to deputy fire chief of operations where he supervised the suppression, rescue, and aircraft rescue fire fighting branches and the domestic security section. Russell was appointed fire chief in August 2009. As the fire chief he also served as the city’s emergency management officer.

Beaty is a member of the Florida Fire Chief’s Association, The International Association of Fire Chiefs and the Region 1 Domestic Security Task Force.

Beaty holds certifications as an EMT, fire service instructor, telecommunicator and emergency medical dispatcher. His specialties also include command and control of emergency operations, incident command and domestic preparedness.