AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas Police Department (UTPD) has a new chief.
Shane Streepy, who had served as the department's assistant police chief since April, has been promoted to chief of police. He replaces Eve Stephens, who resigned abruptly on Friday.
Streepy is the department's seventh police chief.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be named chief of police at this world-class institution,” Streepy said in a news release sent by the university. “I look forward to continuing our pursuit of being the best trained, best equipped, and most respected university police department in the country so we can deliver on our mission to protect and serve with the highest levels of excellence and professionalism. We owe this to our Longhorn community and each of the students, faculty, staff and visitors to our campus.”
Prior to joining UTPD, Streepy served 21 years with the Austin Police Department, where he led a number of specialized units including Special Investigations, Homicide Cold Case and Missing Persons and Tactical Intelligence, while also working closely on joint task forces with the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service.
Streepy graduated from Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff & Command, where he was awarded the Franklin M. Kreml Leadership Award. He also holds an Executive Master of Public Leadership from UT's LBJ School of Public Affairs, a Master of Criminal Justice from Boston University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at El Paso.
“Our highest priority is always the safety and security of every member of our University community, and that requires a true community approach to law enforcement,” UT President Jay Hartzell said in Friday's release. “Chief Streepy has demonstrated outstanding leadership, and more importantly, he understands and embraces the role of being a policing partner in our large and highly connected campus community.”
The university also announced two additional promotions to the department's command staff. Capt. Christopher Miller has been promoted to assistant chief to serve alongside Assistant Chief Ashley Griffin. Miller has held various leadership roles, including his recent post leading the Support, Staff and Events Division, where he ran point on safety and security of the University’s commencement ceremonies. He recently graduated from the FBI National Academy and holds a Master of Science in criminal justice and criminology from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and history from Manhattanville College.
Lt. Eric Johanson has been promoted to captain. Johanson graduated from the UT System Police Academy with the Top Cadet award and currently supervises the department's Investigations and Mitigations Division, as well as UTPD’s district representatives and the University Crisis and Intervention Team. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Northern Illinois University and is nearing completion of a degree from Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff & Command. He served in the U.S. Army, where he earned a Combat Infantry Badge.
It is not clear at this time what caused Stephens to resign.