Governing Body

 President Craig T. Steckler, has served California law enforcement for forty years in three different municipal agencies. Chief Steckler began his career in San Clemente in 1968 and left in 1980 to become the Chief of Police in Piedmont, California. In 1986 he was hired by the Fremont Police Department as a Deputy Chief and in 1992 was promoted to Chief of Police. Chief Steckler is a past president of the California Police Chiefs Association and is a life member of the IACP. Chief Steckler served on the Executive Committee from 1997 to 2004 when he was elected Vice President at Large and then in 2008 elected as Forth Vice President. Chief Steckler has also served on the Patrol and Tactical Operations Committee, Constitutional Review Committee and Financial Review Committee. Chief Steckler received his degree from California State University, Los Angeles, graduated from the National Academy 128th session and graduated from LEEDS in 1996. Chief Steckler is married to Casey and they have four children.

Immediate Past President Chief Walter McNeil, was chosen as the Police Chief for the City of Quincy, February 28, 2011. Previous to his Quincy appointment, Chief McNeil served as the Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, and Chief of Police for the City of Tallahassee, FL. Holding a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminology, Chief McNeil is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy, and an active member of the State of Florida Human Trafficking Task Force. 

First Vice President Yost Zakhary, Chief Zakhary started his law enforcement career with the City of Woodway in 1979 and was appointed Chief in 1985. He is an active participant in many law enforcement related positions and has served on several IACP committees. Chief Zakhary served as president of the Texas Police Chief’s Association and Chair of the Texas Police Chief’s Foundation. He served on the Training and Education Committee for the IACP and has served as General Chair of SACOP. In 2008, Chief Zakhary was appointed to serve on the IACP Executive Committee representing cities under a population of 10,000. He is the President of the McLennan County 9-1-1 District and currently serves as chair for the McLennan Community College Law Enforcement Academy. Chief Zakhary is a lifetime member of IACP and Texas Police Chiefs Association. He is a graduate of the 160th Session F.B.I National Academy and holds a B.A. in Management and a M.A. in Public Policy and Public Administration from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Chief Zakhary is an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice at Baylor University and McLennan Community College. He is married to Julie and they have twin daughters, Lauren and Emily.

Second Vice President Chief Richard Beary, began his law enforcement career in 1977 with the Altamonte Springs Police Department. Working through the ranks from Communications Operator to Commander of Police Operations, Chief Beary was appointed Chief of Police for the City of Lake Mary, Florida in 1992 where he served there until retirement after thirty years of service.  In 2007, he was appointed Chief of Police for the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, the largest university in the state and 2nd in the country.

Chief Beary holds a Bachelors degree in Public Affairs from Rollins College, Winter Park and a Master of Science degree from the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida. In addition, Chief Beary is a graduate of the 143rd session of the F.B.I. National Academy and an adjunct faculty member at Seminole State College of Florida. Throughout his years of service, Chief Beary has twice been awarded the Medal of Valor for Performance Undertaken at Great Personal Hazard as well as numerous other awards.

Third Vice President Superintendent Ronal W. Serpas, was appointed Superintendent of Police, New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), in 2010, by Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu following a nationwide search. Previous to his appointment, Serpas served as the sixth Police Chief in the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and the 19th Chief of the Washington State Patrol. 

In addition to Superintendent Serpas’ law enforcement career he has served as an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Loyola University New Orleans, teaching graduate and undergraduate course. Superintendent Serpas has also published several articles on leadership and management philosophies, gun violence, and police disciplinary systems. The Superintendent continues to participate and contribute on the national and international level of police leadership through his election as the 4th Vice President of IACP and is expected to be sworn in as IACP President in 2015.

 
Fourth Vice President Chief Terry M. Cunningham, Wellesley, Massachusetts, Police Chief Terry M. Cunningham has 30 years of experience as a police officer, 13 as Chief of Police. During his distinguished career in professional policing, he has served as President of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, Vice President for four years and Chairman of the Legislative Committee for the past eight years. He is currently a member of the Executive Board of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association and the New England Association of Chiefs of Police.

Chief Cunningham is a founder and immediate past President of the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (Metro-LEC). He is also a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the New England Association of Chiefs of Police, Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, FBI National Academy Associates, Law Enforcement Executive Development Association, Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), Massachusetts Police Accreditation Coalition, Massachusetts Police Association, American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers and the National Narcotic Officer's Association.

Chief Cunningham is a graduate of the New England Institute of Law Enforcement Management at Babson College, the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar at Quantico VA and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Executive Education. He holds both a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University and a Master's Degree.

Vice President at Large Chief James Craze, is the chief of police of Greenbelt, Maryland, a suburban community of 21,000 residents located in Prince George’s County, 10 miles north of Washington, DC. He began his 45-year law enforcement career serving as an Air Force Air Police canine handler during the Vietnam era. After separation from the service he joined the Greenbelt Police Department where he rose through the ranks to become chief in 1986. Chief Craze holds a Bachelors degree in Law Enforcement/Criminology from the University of Maryland, is a graduate of the 146th Session of the FBI National Academy, the 29th Session of the FBI LEEDS program at Quantico and has served as the president of the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association and the Police Chiefs Association of Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Chief Craze has served on a number of key IACP boards and committees including the Board of Directors for the Foundation, the Executive Committee representing Group 3, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, the Financial Review Committee, the Investment Committee, the Election Commission and was Maryland’s SACOP representative for a period of four years. Chief Craze is married and has a son, Jim Jr. and daughter, Aimee.

Vice President at Large Chief Kent Barker has over 28 years of law enforcement experience which includes two years with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Salem Oregon, 19 years with the Keizer Police Department, and the past seven years as the Chief of Police for the City of Tualatin, Oregon.

Chief Kent Barker has a bachelor’s degree in Management and Communication from Western Baptist College in Salem, Oregon and is a graduate of the Oregon Executive Development Institute and the FBI National Academy. He is the past President of the Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police and a recipient of the Paul Nagy Award. Kent Barker was recently appointed by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski to serve on the Board for the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training and is a member of the Police Policy Committee.

International Vice President Col. Nelson Werlang Garcia, was installed at the 118th Annual IACP Conference in October of 2011 for a 2 year term, until 2013. An active IACP member for over a decade, Col. Garcia has played an instrumental role in expanding the organization’s efforts on a global scale, particularly in his native region of South America.

Col. Garcia has served in law enforcement since 1986, working in various positions within Military Police of the Federal District in Brasilia, Brazil. His career has highlighted his ability to supervise and lead police units, with many of his tasks centering on recruitment, police education and community policing duties. Additionally, Col. Garcia has been seconded to the United Nations in two Peace Keeping/Peace Building missions, in former Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR) and most recently to the Integrated Peace-building Office in Guinea Bissau (UNIOGBIS), where he was assigned to the post of Senior Police Advisor, Head of the Police Reform Unit.

Vice President - Treasurer Dwight Henninger has been a member of the IACP Executive Committee for five years, served as the Chair of the Environmental Crimes Committee, and as a member of the Financial Review and Homeland Security Committees.

Chief Dwight has served as chief in Vail, Colorado since 2002. Leading a 63-person organization, he serves a population of over two million domestic and international visitors annually. In 2010, Chief Dwight was congressionally appointed to serve on the Local, State, Tribal and Federal Preparedness Task Force - a force directed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy Session #196, PERF’s Senior Management Institute for Police, and the California POST Command College. Dwight received Masters Degrees from UC, Irvine in Business and Public Administration and from San Diego State University in Leadership.

SACOP General Chair Chief Peter L. Carnes began his law enforcement career as a Patrolman with the Wenham, Massachusetts Police Department in 1973. Aside from serving the Wenham PD as a Patrol Officer, Chief Carnes was a Police Academy Instructor and training officer. In 1984 he was appointed to Chief of Police of Wenham PD until 1995 when he accepted the position of Chief of Police of the Yarmouth, Massachusetts Police Department. Chief Carnes retired from that position in 2008 to accept the position of Chief of Police and Director of Campus Safety, at Stonehill College, in Easton, Massachusetts.

Chief Carnes has a Bachelor Degree from Northeastern University and a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College. He is also a Graduate of the Command Training Institute at Babson College, the Law Enforcement Trainers Institute at Boston University, as well as the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Program. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Center for Technology Commercialization and is a frequent public speaker on various policing topics such as prevention of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

General Chair, Division of State and Provincial Police, Colonel Michael Edmonson is the 27th General Chair of the Division of State and Provincial Police and was appointed as the 25th Superintendent of the Louisiana State Police in January 2008 by Governor Bobby Jindal. Serving as the Deputy Secretary of Public Safety Services he is responsible for an agency of more than 2900 employees and a budget of nearly one-half billion dollars. 

Edmonson is a career state police officer having joined the organization in 1981. Colonel Edmonson earned his Bachelor’s and Masters of Criminal Justice from Louisiana State University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia and the FBI National Executive Institute. Throughout his service career, Edmonson’s contributions helped state and regional public safety agencies better coordinate their law enforcement efforts. Colonel Edmonson is married to Suzanne and they have four children: Brittney, Casey, Michael, and Cade.

Parliamentarian Chief Ellen T. Hanson, Chief Hanson recently retired from the Lenexa, Kansas Police Department where she has served for 37 years. She began her career as a patrol officer and was later transferred to the Investigations Division where she served as a detective and later as the commander of that unit. Before being named Chief of Police in 1991, she served as commander of the Patrol Division and Deputy Chief.

She is a 1980 graduate of the FBI National Academy and past president of the Johnson County Chiefs and Sheriffs Association and the Metropolitan Chiefs and Sheriffs Association. She currently serves as the Parliamentarian of the IACP Patrol and Tactical Committee and the DARE America Law Enforcement Advisory Board.  Chief Hanson has an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Kansas University and a Masters Degree in Management Science from Baker University. In 1996, she was named the Clarence M. Kelley Law Enforcement Administrator of the year and the Outstanding Graduate Student in the School of Liberal Arts at Baker University in 1990. Most recently, in 2010, Chief Hanson was named the Woman Law Enforcement Executive of the Year by the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives.

IACP Executive Director Bart R. Johnson, currently serves as the Executive Director for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Johnson served as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As the second-ranking official in the office, he was responsible for integrating the Department’s intelligence efforts while providing intelligence to the Secretary, her senior leadership, the DHS components, and state, local, tribal and private sector partners. Before joining the federal government, Mr. Johnson served as a Colonel with the New York State Police, retiring in 2008 as Field Commander. 

Mr. Johnson has received numerous awards, including the Superintendent’s Commendation and the Federal 100 Award. He is also the recipient of the Department of Homeland Security Distinguished Public Service Award—the highest award that can be given to an individual from outside the Department—awarded to those who have brought the highest honor upon the Department through exceptionally distinguished service in support of efforts to secure the homeland.

Mr. Johnson holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management and Economics from Empire State College. Mr. Johnson has been married to his wife Maryann for more than 33 years and has three grown children, Erik, Kristen and Amy.