Gregory Stevens
Director Stevens was appointed as the sixth Executive Director of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) on January 8, 2024. He has over 35 years of law enforcement experience, including more than eight years as a Texas Chief of Police. Most recently, Director Stevens served as the Police Chief in Rockport, Texas from June 2019 until his appointment with TCOLE. He spent the majority of his career with the Lubbock, Texas Police Department from 1992 until he retired as the Lubbock Police Chief in 2019. Director Stevens is also a retired Naval Intelligence Officer having served a nearly 25-year active and reserve military career.
Director Stevens began his law enforcement career as a military police officer in the U.S. Air Force, enlisting in 1988 one month after graduating from high school. He served as a base patrol officer and K-9 handler for most of his initial enlistment at Eielson Air Force Base outside Fairbanks, Alaska. After being honorably discharged at the rank of Sergeant (E-4), Director Stevens moved back to Texas and joined the Lubbock Police Department. Working his way up the rank structure of the LPD, Director Stevens served in almost every division of the department. He has conducted or assisted in many wide-ranging investigations, including for crimes of larceny, narcotics, prostitution, assault, gang violence, robbery, sexual assault, kidnapping, and murder. As a narcotics investigator and supervisor for many years, Director Stevens performed and led numerous undercover operations and conducted countless hours of surveillance activities against illicit drug organizations, and for several years, he led a 13-county regional clandestine laboratory investigative team. Having served several years on the LPD SWAT team, Director Stevens participated in numerous special threat operations including hostage situations, barricaded gunmen, and high-risk arrest and search warrants.
Later in his career with the LPD, Director Stevens promoted into administrative positions and developed experience in myriad law enforcement support services, including training, records, evidence management, information technology, detention, and crime analysis. In 2010, Director Stevens served temporarily as the LPD Police Academy Commander and TCOLE Training Coordinator. He spent several years in command of the department’s Internal Affairs unit, conducting or supervising investigations into officer misconduct and integrity violations. For over four years, Director Stevens was the designated Public Information Officer and primary media spokesperson for the LPD.
While continuing to pursue his career with the LPD, Director Stevens returned to the military in 1998 and reenlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a Master-At-Arms Third Class Petty Officer (E-4). He was recalled to active duty in support of Operation Noble Eagle nine days after the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 and served as a base patrol and administrative officer in the Security Detachment at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. Other significant deployments as an enlisted sailor included to Rodman Naval Station, Panama to provide military law enforcement and security as the last phases of The Panama Canal Treaty were implemented, relinquishing the remaining Canal Zone areas under U.S. Navy control to the Panamanian government, and to U.S. European Fleet Command providing security and anti-terrorism force protection throughout the London, England region to include the U.S. Embassy and at Royal Air Force Base West Ruislip.
In 2005, while board eligible for selection as a Master-At-Arms Chief Petty Officer (E-7), Director Stevens received a commission in the US Navy Reserve as a Naval Intelligence Officer and began serving as a counter-terrorism intelligence analyst assigned to the Joint Intelligence Operations Center, Joint Detachment Fort Worth at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. Later he became an imagery analyst leading a team responsible for providing real-time satellite and live imagery support for the Pacific Command Headquarters at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In 2009, Director Stevens was selected for orders to the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada and began training as a Navy Targeting Officer, later attending the Department of Defense Joint Targeting School and Staff Course on Doctrine at Joint Forces Command, Navy and Marine Intelligence Training Center at Naval Air Station Oceana, Dam Neck Annex, Virginia. Significant deployments included antiterrorism contingency operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom assigned to Naval Special Warfare, Development Group as part of a Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) Task Force. In 2015, Director Stevens honorably retired from all military service as a Navy Lieutenant (O-3).
Director Stevens holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice (BS-CJ) from Wayland Baptist University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Texas Tech University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy (FBINA) and the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar (FBI-LEEDS) programs. Director Stevens also has completed the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas Leadership Command College (LEMIT-LCC) program through Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. He is an active member of the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and the Texas Police Chiefs Association (TPCA). Director Stevens has been recognized as an expert witness in law enforcement policy, search and seizure, use of force, illicit drug manufacturing and trafficking as well as other law enforcement matters in several Texas District Courts and in United States District Court. He has over two decades of experience as an instructor in law enforcement and leadership related subjects and continues to teach and speak publicly on a multitude of topics.
Director Stevens lives with his wife, Randi, in Austin, Texas where he enjoys golf, fishing, running, cooking, SCUBA diving, and traveling. Together they have four grown children, a son in Austin, a daughter in Kansas, and twin daughters attending college in Texas.