The Office of Chief of Police

Michael Curry
Interim Associate Vice President, Public Safety and Chief of Police

Chief Michael Curry is a seasoned law enforcement leader with a distinguished career spanning nearly 15 years. No stranger to serving a campus community,

Curry started his law enforcement journey in 2009 at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), in Galveston, Texas. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Curry has most recently served Prairie View A & M University as Police Commander over the Operations, Support Services, and Parking Divisions of the University Police Department (UPD) for the last six years. His commitment to excellence led him to earn dual bachelor’s degrees in business administration and criminal justice from Lindenwood University in Missouri.

Throughout the Chief’s career, he has established himself as a life-long learner committed to professional growth. He is a 2022 graduate of Northwestern University’s prestigious School of Police Staff and Command (Class 501), FBI Law Enforcement Development Associations’ Supervisory Leadership Institute (FBI-LEEDA), and Penn State University’s Police Executive (POLEX) and High Impact Supervision (HIS) courses. He is a graduate of the Project Management course at the University of Houston.

Believing in the need to balance technical and tactical proficiencies, Chief Curry holds Instructor- level certification in Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT), Exterior Response to Active Shooter (ERASE), Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE), and Rapid Deployment, Awareness, Intervention, Decisiveness, EMS, Recovery (RAIDER). Having spent time on the Fort Bend County East SWAT team, the Chief is a firearms instructor as well as a defensive tactics instructor. Adding to the balance, he is certified as a Racial Intelligence and Engagement Instructor.

A significant portion of Chief Curry’s experience has focused upon the professional development, training, and accreditation of police organizations and police officers. He has been an ardent champion of police accountability, compliance, and professionalism. He has worked collaboratively upon the development of the Professional Development Institute (PDI), a peer-reviewed doctoral endeavor, that focuses upon the development of mid-level managers within police organizations. The PDI posits that real-life training experiences that simulate authentic police encounters, especially those that are immersive and that engage the five senses of law enforcers, are most effective, and will elicit and expose strengths and weaknesses that can be honed to produce the most positive and desired outcomes in professional law enforcement officers. Chief Curry’s expertise has made him a sought-out consultant for organizations looking to optimize their professional environments, both in Texas, as well as in other states.

Chief Curry is an assessor for the Texas Police Chief Association’s (TPCA) Accreditation program and is regarded as an effective policy developer and manager, a compliance expert, and professional standards investigator. He is a zealous advocate for innovation and safety at Prairie View A & M University. His vision for the University Police Department (UPD) furthers the department’s ethos, “Above all, do right”, and perfectly supports the new PVAMU mantra that “Excellence lives here”. He is also the proud father of a 2021 PVAMU graduate!