Richard "Dick" Dickerson is a native of Colorado who, following his discharge from the United States Army, settled in Southern California to begin a thirty-year career in law enforcement.

In 1986, Dickerson was sent to Redding by the California Department of Justice to organize and command the Shasta Interagency Narcotics Task Force (SINTF).

Following retirement in 1993, Dickerson was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to the Shasta County Board of Supervisors, and later he was elected to serve a four-year term. He served as a member of the California State Assembly from 1998 to 2002.