Terry A. Nichols has been appointed as the next City of Brownwood Police Chief. Nichols’ law enforcement experience spans more than 25 years in both municipal law enforcement and national program management.
Nichols served the San Marcos Police Department for 21 years, retiring at the rank of Commander in 2010. As Commander, he led and managed both Patrol and Criminal Investigation Divisions. He also was Sergeant in the Training Division, Patrol Sergeant, and Narcotics Detective. Nichols was a member of a multi-agency Hays County Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT), of which he served a term as Commander. As a member of the San Marcos PD and SWAT, Nichols saw the need for additional training for law enforcement in active shooter incidents. He is a founding member of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) program, which has become an internationally recognized training and development entity through Texas State University.
Mr. Nichols retired from the SMPD to dedicate himself full time to ALERRT as the Assistant Director and the Director of Curriculum Development for over six years. ALERRT has acquired over $50 million in grant funding and trained more than 90,000 officers. He is a published author and speaker on active the shooter threat, training development and national response strategies.
Through the span of his career, Nichols has extensive experience collaborating and communicating with local law enforcement agencies, community leaders, and citizens. Nichols is known by his colleagues as a team builder, with the ability to bring people together for a common goal.
Nichols holds a Master Peace Officer Certification, a Bachelors in Criminal Justice and a Masters in Administration of Criminal Justice, both from Texas State University. He and his wife, Nicky, have been married for 25 years, and have two adult children.
Nichols first day as the Brownwood Police Chief will be July 5.
City Manager Emily Crawford recommended Terry A. Nichols to the City Council with the full support of the Police Chief Advisory Board, made up by Councilmen Draco Miller and Larry Mathis, Brownwood Municipal Police Association President, Fred Bastardo, Sergeant Michael Sheedy, City HR Director David Dalleh, and City Manager Crawford. “I am very pleased with the processes and the result of the police chief search,” stated Crawford. “We had a diverse group of quality applicants. Brownwood is privileged to have Terry Nichols join our community and police department.”
Nichols was selected out of a pool of 37 applicants, 11 of which were interviewed. He stated that he is very humbled to have received the appointment.
“I am humbled. Humbled to have the council embrace me and to have the community embrace me as Chief of Police,” said Nichols.
He explained that he is looking forward to moving to Brownwood and getting to know the community.
“It’s exciting to get out of San Marcos after 30 years. In 1986 when I joined San Marcos Police Department, I was the 42nd officer to be hired in San Marcos,” said Nichols. He explained that at the time, San Marcos was very much like Brownwood, but that it has grown since then to a population of 106,000. Nichols grew up in Temple, Texas and moved to San Marcos as a teen, to get his degree in law enforcement. He stated that he joined the SMPD and has lived in San Marcos since that time.
Nichols stated he is excited about the future but that he realizes that he has some big shoes to fill after Chief Corley retires. He stated that he was drawn to apply for the position of chief of police after reading the job description, stating that the description was “everything about me,” a collaborator and a team builder.
The main objective Nichols stated that he was going to strive to accomplish is to work together with the community and the other law enforcement agencies to combat crime. He stated that he was impressed with the community support of law enforcement, citing the 250 in attendance at the law enforcement luncheon banquet last week.
Nichols stated that he enjoys “being a cop.” He stated he enjoys being in uniform and being on the streets with other officers. He plans to be a working chief, being involved with the other officers and will put himself through the testing and training that is required of the other officers within the department, including the agility test.
He stated that he looks forward to coming to Brownwood, meeting and working with all of the other law enforcement agencies in the county when he begins in July.
Pictured above, Nichols (left) is greeted by BPD Sergeant Troy Carroll.
