Mayor Purcell Names Serpas Police Chief
MEDIA ADVISORYOffice Of The Mayor
Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
107 Metropolitan Courthouse, Nashville, TN 37201
Phone: (615) 862-6000 · Fax: (615) 862-6040
Mayor Bill Purcell today named Ronal W. Serpas the chief of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
"After a deliberate review and interviews of the recommended candidates, I am convinced that Chief Ronal Serpas will lead the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department to the next level and assure the safety of the people of Nashville. He understands the needs of managing a police force and how to best use the resources available to fight crime," Mayor Bill Purcell said.
Serpas, 43, is a 23-year law enforcement veteran. He most recently served as the 19th chief of the Washington State Patrol managing a staff of 1,100 sworn officers and 1,100 professional staff. Chief Serpas retired as the Assistant Superintendent of Police and the first Chief of Operations of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) where he rose through the ranks from June 1980 to July 2001.
Serpas will take over the reins of the department no later than Monday, Jan. 12. He will start as chief with an annual salary of $135,000.
"This is an exciting opportunity for me," Serpas said. "Mayor Purcell and the Council are providing the personnel, equipment and other resources needed to make this one of the top police departments in the country. I am looking forward to joining the officers in Nashville who have worked so hard to bring down the city's murder rate in recent years."
Press reports from Washington tout the chief's success in his current post.
A news story in the Dec. 3 issue of The Olympian said many state patrol
troopers are happy with his leadership.
http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20031203/southsound/164656.shtml
The story quoted Bob Thurston, president of the Washington State Patrol
Troopers Association saying a survey of members showed the majority of the
troopers were satisfied with his leadership.
"He's definitely goal-oriented, a very intelligent individual, and the one thing that could be said before Serpas came in is that the State Patrol was a ship without a rudder. There is no denying the direction the patrol is headed in today," Thurston said.
The WSP was selected as the First Place Winner for Highway Patrol/State Police agencies with more than 1000 officers for the 2002 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) - Chief's Challenge Award, and the WSP was also chosen as the Winner of the 2002 Clayton J. Hall Memorial Award for the law enforcement agency that best represents what a comprehensive traffic safety program should be out of a contestant pool of 410 agencies submitting. These awards were presented by the IACP at its 2003 convention in Philadelphia, PA.
Serpas also received the Freedom's Light Award from the Washington State Newspaper Publishers Association.
Serpas will replace former chief Emmett Turner, who retired April 1 to join the administration of Gov. Phil Bredesen as assistant commissioner for fire prevention.
Serpas was selected after a national search and a review of candidates by a citizen panel which recommended him and two other candidates to Purcell for final consideration.
"I look forward to working in partnership with all the communities and neighborhoods of Nashville to ensure that our administration will have a hallmark of openness, accessibility and accountability," Serpas said. "My wife Jill, daughter Allie and I look forward to becoming part of the city of Nashville and making it our home."
He received his PhD from the University of New Orleans in Urban Studies. Serpas received his undergraduate degree from Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans and a masters degree from Central Michigan University.