Deputy Chief
Operations Division

 

Deputy Chief Mike Richardson was promoted from Lieutenant to his current role in October 2023. Richardson holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Liberty University and is a 2017 graduate of the FBI National Academy. He has been with the department for 21 years, and has climbed through the ranks, starting on patrol in 2002.

For the past two years, he has been the Lieutenant in charge of special events, which ensures adequate staffing to provide a secure environment for hundreds of events held annually. Which include athletic events, concerts, and other special events on the University of Tennessee campus.

During his time in law enforcement, Richardson has worked in a variety of areas in the department, including patrol, public information officer, internal affairs, and accreditation. He has also worked as a defensive tactics’ instructor, de-escalation instructor, racial diversity & effective communications trainer, R.A.D (Rape Aggression Defense) instructor, among others.

Richardson is also a recent graduate of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) Senior Management Institute for Police, which is a training program that provides senior level police executives with the latest management concepts and practices used in business and government. A few of those curriculum topics included skillful negotiation techniques, implicit bias, and strategies to accomplish organizational change.

Deputy Chief Richardson is currently the division commander for Operations. Units under his command include Patrol, Special Events, Community Service Officers, Motor Unit, Capital Escorts, K-9 Units, Campus Protection Specialists, Special Event Assistants.