About

John M. Ray is the Executive Director of the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas at Sam Houston State University. In his capacity as executive director, he is responsible for overseeing the creation and delivery of the broad array of advanced leadership and professional development programs the institute provides to law enforcement and other public safety officials. Established by the Texas legislature in 1987, LEMIT is one of the largest and most sophisticated statewide preparation programs for police management in the United States and is nationally recognized for its initiatives to develop the administrative, analytical, and executive skills of current and future law enforcement officials.

Dr. Ray came to LEMIT after serving for six years as the Director of the Institute for Law Enforcement & Protective Services Excellence and TEEX (TEEX-ILEPSE). In his capacity as director, he was responsible for law enforcement extension training and technical assistance to law enforcement agencies throughout Texas. Services overseen by Dr. Ray ranged from the basic peace officer, jailer, and telecommunicator licensing courses, to more advanced training and technical assistance required for operating modern law enforcement agencies.

For over three decades, Dr. Ray served as a full-time Texas peace officer. In that time, he served in operational and administrative positions, from patrol officer to executive leadership. He has also served in agencies serving jurisdictions as small as 17,000 and as large as 1.9 million. Prior to joining TEEX, he served for two years as Assistant Police Chief with the Victoria Texas Police Department (VPD), and as the sole second-in-command, he oversaw all aspects of department operations and administration. Before joining VPD, he served for nearly seven years in Fort Worth, Texas, as the Executive Chief Deputy for Operations with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO). As second-in-command in an agency of over 1,400 employees, he was responsible for all law enforcement operations conducted by sworn personnel. Dr. Ray was also responsible for the agency’s administrative divisions, which included preparing and managing a budget in excess of $118 million. Prior to joining TCSO in July of 2009, he retired from the Longview Texas Police Department as an Assistant Police Chief. In Longview, Dr. Ray served as a patrol officer in the department’s community policing program, a SWAT officer, and a detective for over ten years. At various supervisory levels, he was assigned to the Patrol Division, Criminal Investigations Division, CALEA (accreditation manager), PIO, SWAT, EOC (Planning Section Chief), Hostage Negotiations Unit, Internal Affairs Unit, Planning and Research Office, and the Office of Management and Budget. Early in his career, he also served as an officer with police departments in Jacksonville, Texas, and West Lake Hills, Texas. Dr. Ray is a veteran, having served in the U.S. Air Force, reaching the rank of Sergeant (E-4).

Dr. Ray holds B.S. and M.A. degrees in political science from the University of Texas at Tyler, and a Ph.D. in public affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas. The focus of his dissertation and ongoing research concerns deliberative democratic processes applied to the practice of community policing. Additionally, he authored a book on community policing, entitled Rethinking Community Policing. Dr. Ray is a graduate of several in-residence senior leadership programs. They include the 269th Session of the FBI National Academy, the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration’s (ILEA) School of Executive Leadership (42nd), and School of Police Supervision (70th). He has taught the Ethical Leadership block of instruction annually for ILEA’s School of Executive Leadership since 2015. He is a certified LIFO® facilitator (2019) and received his certificate in mediation from the University of Texas – San Antonio (2024).

Some of Dr. Ray’s affiliations include the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the Texas Police Chiefs Association (TPCA), and the FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA). He also holds lifetime memberships in the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas (SAT), the Texas Chief Deputies Association (TCDA), the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) and the Air Force Association (AFA).