As a child, Timothy A. Dimoff watched The Lone Ranger, quickly becoming enamored with the good deeds of John Reid. “He was guided by doing good and helping people,” Dimoff said. As an adult, he was able to fulfill his childhood dream of following in his hero’s footsteps be going into police work.
He spent time as a narcotics detective and a SWAT team member. While in this line of duty, he experienced 167 armed encounters and sustained 11 injuries, undergoing one year of rehab.
“It was exciting,” he said, “but also very serious police work. I do not regret one day of working at those challenging jobs. This experience gave me a thorough understanding of police work, criminal activities and the limits and challenges faced by law enforcement.”
AALM: How and why did you decide to leave law enforcement? Tell us about the transition to consultant and your decision to found SACS Consulting and Investigative Services.
TD: I had spent 20 years on the job and been injured so I decided to utilize my extensive training and to redirect it to help people in the private sector. Being an entrepreneur allowed me the freedom to help an entirely new group of people ranging from corporations and nonprofits to attorneys and private citizens.
AALM: How did you first come to serve as an expert witness? Tell us about that first case.
TD: As a police officer, you are sometimes called upon to testify in cases. As such, I received extensive training and experience in testifying. After retiring from the police force, one of the first phone calls I received was from an attorney who had been the opposing counsel on an old narcotics case in which I had testified. He had a case he wanted me to testify on as an expert—he remembered how I had destroyed his case when I was in the police department.
That started my career as an expert witness. Since then, I have gone on to become registered with TASA as a police/security procedures expert and have testified in various courts on police procedures and other security issues across the United States.
AALM: How does your ongoing work as a consultant in the workplace inform your work as an expert?
TD: As I work with corporations, nonprofits, schools, churches, etc. I have gained even more experience in security issues. I have also written training programs, given presentations, and have served as a media consultant which has afforded me additional opportunities to gain knowledge and experience that I use in my expert witness testimonies, consultant work, and more.
AALM: How would you describe your approach to your work as an expert witness on cases many of which involve use of force and police procedures? How do you think this differentiates you from other experts?
TD: My focus is on telling the truth regarding any situation involving police, pro or con. As former law enforcement, it is a challenge to testify against a person in blue. But I understand that if we don’t clean our own house, law enforcement won’t have credibility. There is a very limited number of experts who are willing to testify both for and against police officers and for and against police departments. This sets me apart from many other police protocol and procedure experts. I am known for my credibility and expertise. I am proud of my reputation in court.
AALM: Looking back on your 35-plus years of experience, what are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen develop and how is that playing out in the courtroom?
TD: The use of cameras—body cams, the public taking videos—has put police and security under a microscope, making it more difficult to ascertain the specific details in actions. Often cameras misrepresent what actually happened. The videos are often incomplete—missing what events may have led up to the altercation or offense. The problem is then compounded by the fact that many people do not understand that aspect of videos. And social media has also contributed to this issue. This makes it challenging when using videos in court cases.
AALM: In addition to your work as a consultant and an expert, you’re also a speaker, an author and an emcee. A man of many talents. How do you juggle it all and how does each piece fit together to better help your work overall?
TD: I am a meticulous organizer and planner. While it may seem on the surface that I juggle many balls at once, the truth is that all these actually support each other, while helping me to grow in knowledge and experience. I am comfortable presenting one-on-one, in front of large audiences, live, taped, in court, etc.
AALM: Looking back, how do you think you’ve attained the success you have?
TD: I think the key to my growth and expertise has been that I wake up every day excited to go to work. This guides me in my daily life, when I am testifying as an expert witness, and when I am dealing with clients. Passion for the truth is paramount in everything I do.
