By Paul Walsh

Maple Grove's top cop will soon become Gov. Mark Dayton's commissioner of public safety, the first woman in Minnesota to fill that post.

Ramona Dohman will head the agency responsible for state law enforcement, emergency management, driver licensing and vehicle registration, fire and traffic safety, and alcohol and gambling enforcement. She will succeed Michael Campion.

Dohman has almost 30 years of experience in law enforcement, having served in police departments in both the metro area and greater Minnesota. She also was appointed chair of the Police Officer Standards and Training Board by then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2010.

She has worked with the legislative and executive branches to implement policies designed to improve and expand the role of law enforcement across a broad spectrum of issues including advocating for victim's rights and critical federal funding.
Dohman, 49, has worked in Maple Grove's Police Department since 1984, first as an investigator and patrol officer before being promoted to chief in 2001.

She previously served as a patrol officer in Glencoe, and later in Marshall, Minn.

She lives in Maple Grove with her husband, St. Louis Park Police Sgt. Ward Dohman, and their three children.

The position is cabinet-level, leaving Dayton eight posts yet to fill.