Montgomery Public Safety Director Chris Murphy Announces Retirement

Montgomery Public Safety Director Chris Murphy announced today that he will retire from city service effective December 31. Murphy made the announcement today during his regular monthly staff meeting with the leaders of all four MDPS agencies.

Murphy leaves public service after a career of 40 years in law enforcement and public safety at the federal, state and municipal levels. He has served as MDPS director since October 2010, when Mayor Todd Strange tasked him with consolidating city public safety functions.

“It has been my privilege for the last seven years to serve as Mayor Strange’s director of Public Safety for the city of Montgomery, and this is also my 40th year in front-line public safety and law enforcement work,” said Murphy. “It is time now to welcome a new season in my life and a different sort of challenge.”

In retirement, Murphy will join an international security consulting firm, Merletti, Gonzales & Associates, formed by former colleagues in the U.S. Secret Service, where he served for 21 years. He said this opportunity had developed quickly, but that he and wife Nancy “are trusting God’s timing and are ready to step out on faith.”

Murphy thanked the mayor for his support and vision for MDPS, saying it has been an honor to have been associated with the Montgomery Police Department, Fire/Rescue, Emergency Communications, and City/County EMA.

Murphy began his law enforcement career in 1978 with the Auburn Police Department before moving on to a position as a special agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. He then joined the U.S. Secret Service in 1985, where he worked protection for seated presidents and vice presidents from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush.

He retired from the Secret Service in 2006 to serve on Gov. Bob Riley’s Cabinet as director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety prior to joining the city in 2010.