Darrel Stephens

Darrel consults on a wide range of police leadership and management issues. He served as Executive Director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association from October 2010 through October 2018. He was a member of the faculty of the Public Safety Leadership Program at Johns Hopkins University in the School of Education as an Instructor from 2008 to 2013.

Darrel is an accomplished police executive with 50 years of experience. His career began as a police officer in Kansas City, Missouri in 1968. In addition to his police experience, he served for 2 years as the City Administrator in St. Petersburg, Florida. He has 22 years experience in a police executive capacity including almost nine years from September 1999 to June 2008 as the Chief of the 2100 member Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).

He served as the President, Vice President, and Legislative Committee Chair of the Major Cities Police Chiefs Association while Chief in Charlotte.

Darrel participated in the second Square One Roundtable convening “Examining Criminalization, Punitive Excess, and the Courts in the United States: Implications for Justice Policy and Practice.”