Career Highlights:
- Appointed Chief of the Jeffersontown Police Department on February 5, 2007.
- Has over 35 years of Law Enforcement experience beginning his career with the Jefferson County Police Department in 1971.
- Retired following 24 years of service as a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. (DEA)
- Appointed as the Assistant Administrator of the DEA in March 2006
- Appointed to Senior Executive Service (SES) in 2002 and named Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Chicago Field Division.
- An accomplished pilot who has flown numerous international missions in support of Operation Snowcap and Operation BAT (Bahamas, Turks and Caicos)
Colonel Richard Sanders was appointed as the Chief of Police of the Jeffersontown Police Department on February 5, 2007. Mr. Sanders has over 35 years of law enforcement experience, beginning his career as a police officer for the Jefferson County Police Department in Louisville, Kentucky in 1971. In 1983 Mr. Sanders pursued his lifelong goal to become a federal law enforcement officer and joined the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Special Agent within the Louisville, Kentucky Resident Office.
An accomplished fixed-wing and rotary-wing pilot, Mr. Sanders was assigned to the Miami Field Division in 1988 as a Special Agent/Pilot and provided air support for the division’s enforcement operation. In 1994, Mr. Sanders was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent with the Office of Aviation Support where he oversaw the training, standardization and proficiency check rides for all 113 DEA aviators to ensure their operational readiness.
In 1996, Mr. Sanders was transferred to the Louisville, Kentucky Resident Office as the Resident Agent in Charge (RAC). Mr. Sanders was transferred to DEA Headquarters in 2001 and was promoted to the position of Special Assistant to the Administrator where he served two DEA Administrators. In 2002, Mr. Sanders was transferred to the Indianapolis, Indiana District Office as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC).
Mr. Sanders was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in 2002 and served as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the DEA's Chicago Field Division.
Mr. Sanders is a native of Louisville, Kentucky and has a Bachelor of Science in Police Administration and a Master of Science in Justice Administration obtained from the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Sanders is married to the former Deidra Henley and has two sons.
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Chief of Police
Colonel Richard Sanders
COLONEL RICHARD SANDERS, CHIEF OF POLICE
