Joe M. "Joey" McDowell came from a law enforcement background, his father Joe McDowell and his grandfather, Autry McDowell were both police officers. He was born into the tradition although both his grandfather and father discouraged him from following in their footsteps. Their excellent examples of the "Good Guys always Wear the White Hat" inbred in him the desire to follow their lead.
He began his distinguished law enforcement career in 1973 with the Dyer County Sheriff's department at the age of 18. At the time, Joey was the youngest law enforcement officer in the State of Tennessee.
Two years later, he moved to the juvenile area of law enforcement where he began an eleven (11) year stint as a Juvenile Officer in Dyer County. During that time, Joey worked a variety of cases that strengthened his interest.
In 1987 Joey left Juvenile Investigations to begin his career as a Criminal Investigator with the Dyersburg Police Department. In an interview with Shawn Hendricks of the Dyersburg State Gazette published on February 09, 1997, he stated, "As I started working in law enforcement, I found that apprehending an individual for a crime he had committed and being able to provide some type of protection to children or the elderly was all the reward I needed. I became addicted for the rush when you took the smallest clue you could find and then put a jigsaw puzzle together with how the crime was not only committed, but who committed it. That was the ultimate challenge in life."
In 1990, the Tennessee Law Enforcement Officers Association honored Joey with the prestigious award of "Smith and Wesson Officer of the Year" for saving the life of a fellow officer. This award is presented to those who go above and beyond the call of duty.
In 1991, Chief Bobby Williamson named Joey as Team Commander of the department's Special Response Team, a five (5) man team equipped to handle situations that patrol officers are not. Since that time, the department's Special Response Team has increased in manpower to ten (10) officers and average four to five operations a month. They have all had specialized training and are graduates in numerous specialized fields from the United States Army in Fort McClellan, Alabama.
Upon graduation from the FBI academy in Quantico, VA in 1994, Joey was commissioned by the United States Attorney General as a Federal Officer, where he served as the leading investigator in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDEF).
Joey became the department's Chief Firearms Instructor in 1995 and he was subsequently promoted to serve as Captain over the Criminal Investigation Division in 1996. In this important position, he distinguished himself as a vital member of the department's command staff by means of this meritorious service.
The West Tennessee Criminal Investigators Association in 1997 named this consummate lawman the Lifetime Membership Award. During Joey's law enforcement career he received ten (10) commendations from the Dyersburg Police Department.
Upon his death, the City Mayor and Board of Aldermen unanimously voted to name the new juvenile detention center as the Joe McDowell Children's Center in his honor, as a commemoration of his abundant care for the community in word and deed.
On January 27, 1998, a resolution to honor the memory of Captain Joe M. "Joey" McDowell, longtime Dyersburg Law Enforcement Officer was unanimously passed.
Representative Ronnie Cole submitted Bill HJR0429: "Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the 100th General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, the Senate concurring, we honor the memory of Joe M. McDowell, reflecting on his many selfless contributions to his community. Officer McDowell unquestionably made Dyersburg and Dyer County a better place to live."
On November 15, 1997, the City of Dyersburg lost the BEST OF THE BEST after a battle with cancer.
Joey, all we do, we do with your memory. You taught us well. We hope we can continue to be the team you built and continue to grow. We miss you T.L.!
Mike, Jimmy, Billy, Jim, Greg, Monty, Big John, Roger and David