LUBBOCK, Texas – Lubbock Police Chief Greg Stevens was named on Tuesday as the sole finalist for police chief in Rockport.
The move was originally reported by KRISTV.com, and Rockport confirmed it.
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Stevens was appointed as the Lubbock chief by then-City Manager James Loomis in August of 2015. He was ratified by the City Council. Before then, Stevens was an assistant police chief. He had worked his way up the ranks over the course of 27 years.
Having grown up in Amarillo, Stevens acquired degrees from both Wayland Baptist University and Texas Tech. He had also served in the U.S. Naval Reserve and the U.S. Air Force.
There’s no word yet on who will be named as the interim chief. The assistant chiefs are Jon Caspell, Jerry Brewer, and Neal Barron.
Mayor Dan Pope said Stevens will serve through May 31. Pope also said the city manager will announce interim leadership “in due course.”
The City of Rockport issued the following statement:
STEVENS SOLE FINALIST FOR ROCKPORT POLICE CHIEF
ROCKPORT, TX – After an extensive, nationwide search, the City of Rockport has selected Gregory Stevens as the sole finalist for the position as Chief of Police. Stevens has more than 30 years of combined experience in civilian and military law enforcement. He will soon be retiring from his position as Chief of Police for the City of Lubbock, Texas, where he leads a department consisting of 585 employees.
“This would be a major coup for Rockport,” noted City Manager Kevin Carruth. “Greg was hands-down the best candidate for the job and his knowledge and experience will prove a great benefit to the City and its residents.” The City received over 63 applications for the position.
Stevens decision to make the move from a major city to a smaller community wasn’t made lightly. “It was getting to the point where I was no longer enjoying the aspects of law enforcement that had drawn me in the first place – community engagement, hands-on involvement and camaraderie,” Stevens said. “I could have retired from the industry completely, but I wasn’t ready to settle down or tackle a new industry.
“The timing of the opening was uncanny as my wife and I had always planned to retire to the Texas Coastal Bend area,” he stated. “Now I’ll be able to continue what I love doing in a place I’ve always wanted to be.”
Chief Stevens was born and raised in Amarillo, Texas. After graduating from Canyon High School in Canyon, Texas in May 1988, he enlisted in the US Air Force and served four years as a military police officer and K-9 handler. His primary duty station was Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. Chief Stevens was honorably discharged in July 1992 and returned to West Texas. He began the Lubbock Police Academy on October 19, 1992 and graduated on February 12, 1993. His first assignment with the LPD was as a patrol officer on the evening shift. In 1996, Chief Stevens transferred to the Detective Division and was assigned as an undercover
narcotics detective until late 1997 when he promoted to the rank of Corporal and returned to the Patrol Division where he worked as a Field Training Officer on the evening shift. Chief Stevens also taught several classes at the Lubbock Police Academy.
In 1998, Chief Stevens reenlisted in the US Navy Reserves as a Master-at-Arms and restarted his military police career serving his reserve drill time at the Naval Reserve Center in Lubbock. Chief Stevens’ annual training evolutions included orders to Rodman Naval Station, Panama; Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Naval Station San Diego, California; and European Fleet Forces, London.
Chief Stevens joined the Lubbock Police Department’s SWAT team in 1998, and promoted to the Rank of Sergeant with the LPD in December 2000. Within days of the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, Chief Stevens was recalled to active duty with the US Navy and served seven months in support of Operation Noble Eagle on board Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida.
Upon his return to the LPD in 2002, Chief Stevens was assigned as an undercover supervisor in the Detective Division’s Narcotics Unit. He revamped the department’s response protocol and strategy for responding to and dismantling clandestine methamphetamine laboratories. During this time Chief Stevens completed a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice degree at Wayland Baptist University in Lubbock and immediately afterward began the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) program through Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.
Chief Stevens promoted to the rank of Lieutenant with the LPD in May 2004 and was assigned as a Patrol Shift Commander. In June 2005, he was transferred back into the Detective Division and was assigned as the commander of the department’s Vice and Gang Intelligence Unit.
Continuing his reserve military career, Chief Stevens was commissioned in the US Navy Reserve as a Naval Intelligence Officer in November 2005 and assigned to perform reserve drills at Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. After completing his initial Officer Training Course at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida and his basic intelligence officer school at Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center (NMITC), Dam Neck, Virginia, Chief Stevens was assigned to the Pacific Command headquarters imagery unit at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
After completing the LEMIT program in 2007, Chief Stevens was transferred to the LPD’s Administration Division as the Internal Affairs commander. He promoted to the rank of Captain and remained in the Administration Division taking command of most all of the department’s ancillary units including records, property and evidence storage, information technology, dispatch, community relations, etc. Chief Stevens was also the department’s designated Public Information Officer (PIO).
In 2009, Chief Stevens was selected among peer Naval Intelligence Officers for orders to the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada and began specializing as a Navy Targeting Officer. Chief Stevens began pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at Texas Tech University in 2010 while continuing both his LPD and US Navy Reserve careers. After attending the Department of Defense Joint Targeting School at NMITC at Dam Neck, Virginia, Chief Stevens specialized in Collateral Damage Estimation and deployed on active duty in 2012 with Naval Special Warfare, Development Group on a Joint Special Operations Command Task Force for anti-terrorism contingencyoperations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
After returning to the LPD from this last active duty deployment, Chief Stevens was assigned as the commander of the department’s Special Operations Section which included the department’s Narcotics, Vice, Gang Intelligence, and Special Duty units. Chief Stevens graduated from the FBI National Academy in March 2013, and he graduated from Texas Tech University with his MBA in December 2013.
In May 2014, Chief Stevens was promoted to the rank of Assistant Police Chief and took command of the Administration Division of the LPD. He retired from all military service after nearly 25 years of service to his country on March 1, 2015, and he was appointed as the Lubbock Chief of Police on August 21, 2015.
Throughout his career, Chief Stevens regularly has provided expert testimony in several Texas District Courts and in US District Court on both criminal and civil matters. He is a past chairman of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Lubbock program, and Chief Stevens has been a voting member of the Forensic Nurse Staffing of West Texas board and the Lubbock Voice of Hope (Rape Crisis) board for the last several years. Last year, Chief Stevens completed the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar (FBI-LEEDS), a twoweek national program sponsored by the University of Virginia.
In 2018, Wayland Baptist University selected Chief Stevens as their Distinguished Alumni for the Lubbock Campus and subsequently as their 2018 system wide Distinguished Chief Stevens’ wife, Randi, is the Assistant Director of the K-12 Global Education Outreach and Operations at the Texas Tech University Office of International Affairs. Together they have four children. Their son, Brennan, lives and works in Lubbock. Their oldest daughter, Madison, is a recent graduate of Texas Tech University and now lives and works in Princeton, New Jersey. Their identical twin daughters, Abigail and Allison, are high school sophomores in Lubbock. Chief Stevens’ hobbies include adventure/endure motorcycling, golfing, skiing, scuba diving, reading, hunting, fishing and traveling.
