Stufano named Roane State police chief

Tom Stufano has been named chief of police for Roane State Community College.

Stufano has more than 30 years in law enforcement, emergency management, and crisis management planning. Most recently, he served for more than six years as the chief of staff/deputy federal coordinating officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the Southeast region.

While with Homeland Security, Stufano managed various aspects of emergency response and Homeland Security initiatives. He coordinated federal response strategies to presidentially declared disasters and worked as the senior federal liaison between local, state, and federal officials. At times, Stufano managed operations involving more than 3,000 responders and was responsible for approving more than $1.2 billion in federal aid.

During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he was assigned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Task Force on investigating fraudulent federal funding claims and recovered more than $1.2 million. He was formally commended by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. Stufano was also responsible for managing the National Operations Center in Washington, D.C., during the 2009 presidential inauguration and was DHS chief of staff during the 2012 Republican and Democratic national conventions.

Stufano was an emergency management administrator for Monroe County in Florida, and he has more than 12 years’ experience in local and federal law enforcement. For 14 years, he was chief executive officer and president of a government contracting security firm specializing in anti-terrorism, crisis management, and SWAT tactics.

Stufano has received numerous commendations, including recognition from President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and from several governors and congressional members. He is a member of various professional organizations such as the International Association of Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association, the Regional Domestic Security Task Force-7, and both the International and Tennessee Chiefs of Police associations.

Stufano earned his master’s degree in business administration from Touro University in 2001. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College and the Squadron Officer School, and he has completed dozens of professional development courses.