GARY TITTLE

Chief of Police

Richardson Police Department

then moved to the Public Integrity unit. Our department’s job was to maintain the integrity of the profession. After that, I continued moving up the ranks, eventually serving as Assistant Chief before joining the Richardson PD.

Throughout my years at DPD, my fellow officers and I operated under a team concept even though we worked individually; it was a unified approach to fighting crime and serving. The camaraderie was outstanding and I really liked being able to see that we were making a difference in our community. Not everyone appreciated our efforts, though. One day in my early career, a fellow officer said, “Tittle, you have flowers at the front desk.” The “flower arrangement” was actually a ceramic skull with dead roses in it. Ironically, I considered that gift to be a sign that I was doing something right.

You’ve been Chief of Police at the Richardson Police Department since 2018. To what do you attribute the department’s crime-fighting success?

RPD is allocated 173 sworn officers and we are running at 159 right now. On the crime-fighting side of things, we rely on partnerships across divisions; we share information and we run on all cylinders serving each other. Plus, our organization is designed to work efficiently. We are an intelligenceled community policing hybrid. We gather intelligence by data—numbers, suspect info, video info and community intelligence. We then push out that intelligence in a usable format to our detectives. We look for trends in time of crimes, day of crimes, type of vehicles, restaurant business parking lots and more and then deploy our resources based on that intelligence. Data helps our force make the best decisions.

Is there a particular moment that stands out in your mind when you truly felt you were making a positive difference as a police officer? If so, please share the story with us.

Child abuse convictions provided such a huge sense of accomplishment. And I always tried to be a positive influence on the men and women of the organization. It’s important to be passionate but also humble.

Name three adjectives which best describe you.

Steady, determined and passionate

Can you tell us a little bit about your family?

My wife Lori is retired from the Dallas Police Department. She has two nieces, one of whom is about to be thirty-two. We've raised Sarah since she was seven and consider her to be our "daughter." Sarah’s sister Maddie, a sophomore at UTD, is also family to us. We have a standard poodle named Chief and a shih tzu named Weezy. Lori retired in 2017 and is now a proud babysitter of our first grandchild, a one-and-a-half-year-old who keeps her very busy.

Prior to retirement, Lori had served twenty-eight-plus years. We worked in proximity to one another but were just

Chief Tittle represents the very best of the policing profession and Richardson community. Gary cares deeply about the men and women of the Richardson Police Department, he prioritizes and values partnerships with all of our stakeholders, and he has uncompromising personal integrity and adheres to the highest professional ethical standards in everything he does. It is a great honor to serve with him.

– Richardson City Manager Don Magner

work acquaintances. Lori worked with a patrol partner named Officer James Fung before becoming a detective who tracked sex offenders and interviewed them at the Dallas Advocacy Center. It was James who played match maker, knowing that Lori and I would hit it off. He was right and we have been married almost twenty-five years.

Did you have a mentor growing up who inspired you? If so, please tell us about him or her.

My parents were both the most influential mentors in my life. Dad modeled a strong work ethic and Mom taught me the importance of having a passion along with compassion.

Off the force, what hobbies or activities do you enjoy most? How do you spend your free time when you aren’t working?

My wife says I am a workaholic and I suppose I am…so I don’t have much time for hobbies. I played soccer for years but now enjoy doing yardwork. On the weekends I piddle around in my flower beds, cut the grass and trim trees. We do love to travel to the US Virgin Islands or Destin, FL, as we are beach people!

What do you hope people will remember about you in years to come?

One…that I cared deeply. For the profession and for the people I served—both men and women in uniform as well as people in the community. And I hope that I have made a difference in the lives of others, both personally and professionally.

Editor’s Note: We asked Richardson police to share ideas with readers regarding school safety. We appreciate their response:

Top 10 Ways To Keep Kids Safe During The School Year

1. Monitor your children's phones. Their phones should be your phones. Know their passcode and conduct random checks.

2. Report any suspicious activity seen on social media either in person to a School Resource Officer(s) or the Richardson Police Department - 972-744-4800.

3. Know who your child’s friends are (and those friends’ parents) and where they live.

4. Monitor your child’s social media usage, specifically SnapChat, Instagram, TikTok and Discord accounts (multiple parental control apps are available for this).

5. Get them involved in extracurricular activities. This can keep them from getting bored and gives them incentive to stay out of trouble.

6. Discuss the dangers of drug use. Tell your child to never take a vape pen, pills or edible products a “friend” is giving them.

7. If you have a high schooler, RISD has an Anonymous Alerts app to report bullying, mental health concerns, drug activity, school threats, etc.

8. With life choices, encourage your students to follow their instincts. If it feels wrong, it probably is.

9. Discourage taking risqué pictures and sending them to others. Those pictures live on forever and will more than likely get shared with many others and cause much embarrassment at some point later.

10. In relationships, no should always mean no, and no amount of convincing from a boyfriend or girlfriend should change that.