Deputy Chief of Police William “Todd” Henry, Biography
Todd Henry began his career with the Metropolitan Nashville, Tennessee Police Department in 1991, working as a patrol officer in the West Sector for four years, and then working undercover street drugs in the Crime Suppression Unit for one year. Todd was promoted to Sergeant in 1998 and helped develop, and supervise, the agency’s Crime Gun Unit. In 2001 he was promoted to Lieutenant and took on additional duties which included the Crisis Negotiator Team Field Commander.
In 2002 Todd was selected to attend Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety’s which is a ten-week School of Police Staff and Command. Upon his graduation in September 2002, he was transferred to the Intelligence Division. Todd is a former regional board member and past President of the Alumni Advisory Board for Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety.
Todd was promoted to Captain on January 1, 2004 and was task with combining the Intelligence and Vice Divisions into the Specialized Investigations Division (SID) in May 2004. The SID includes various units such as narcotics, gangs, prostitution, gambling, gun crimes, hate crimes, terrorism, and dignitary protection.
In July of 2006 Todd attended the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police, an intensive three week course hosted by Boston University and staffed by instructors from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
In the summer of 2009 Todd attended the International Association of Chief’s of Police (IACP) Leadership in Police Organizations three week training program.
On July 1, 2009 Todd was appointed as Commander of the Hermitage Police Precinct. Hermitage Precinct covers over 120 square miles and has over 160 officers/detectives/staff to provide service to over 120,000 Davidson County residents. Hermitage Precinct has over 100 community groups, 2 lakes (Old Hickory and Percy Priest) with adjoining recreation areas and Opry Mills Mall. As Commander of Hermitage Precinct Todd managed the intensive recovery from the 2010 flood for that area.
On October 16, 2010 Todd was promoted to Deputy Chief of Police and assigned to head the Administrative Services Bureau which includes the Training, Human Resources, Background & Recruitment, Safety & Inspections, Information & Technology, Records, Fleet & Inventory Management, and Property & Evidence Divisions. On January 16, 2014 Todd transferred command to the Investigative Services Bureau which is composed of the Domestic Violence, Youth Services, Warrants, Specialized Investigations, and Criminal Investigations Divisions.
In 2014 Todd attended the FBI’s National Executive Institute, or NEI. It is the FBI’s premier executive training initiative. NEI has provided leadership development for Bureau executives the chief executives of the largest law enforcement organizations in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia. The focus of the training is strategic leadership development and current affairs.
Todd graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice Administration in 1989, he teaches Leadership and Management for the University of Tennessee’s Law Enforcement Innovation Center, speaks nationwide on behalf of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Data Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS). Todd is a member of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Police Executive Research Forum, and the FBI NEI Alumni Association.
In 2017 Todd was a member of the forth cohort of the IACP Major City Chief’s Police Executive Leadership Institute (PELI). PELI is a leadership program specifically to develop future police chiefs and sheriffs. Class members get a chance to gain exposure to leadership concepts and ideas important to successful chief executive officers. Class members also interact and learn from experienced MCAA police executives in the classroom and as mentors.
Todd is a member and sits on the board of directors of the Nashville Downtown Rotary Club, is an alumnus and sits on the board for Leadership Nashville, is on the steering committee of NashvilleHealth (founded by former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist to harness the force of community-wide collaboration and improve Nashville’s health outcomes) and was a founding member of Friends of Two Rivers Mansion. Todd is a member of Old Hickory Masonic Lodge #598 as well as the York and Scottish Rite Masonic bodies.