Timothy Longo, Sr.

Timothy J. Longo Sr. was appointed the University of Virginia’s associate vice president for safety and security and chief of police in November 2019. In this capacity, Longo oversees the UVA Police Department, the department of Emergency Management, Clery Act compliance and the Office of Youth Protection, threat assessment, and safety and security systems and technology. He brings more than 40 years of experience in law enforcement leadership and higher education to his role.

Longo joined the Baltimore Police Department in June 1981, rising to position of police colonel/chief of technical services. During his years of service with the department, he served in three of the nine patrol districts and was the district commander of the Southeastern District. Additionally, he served as the commanding officer on the Special Investigation Section within the Internal Investigation Division, was the director of the Emergency Communications Division, and the chief of staff to the police commissioner.

He retired from the Baltimore Police Department in March 2000.

Prior to coming to Charlottesville, Longo worked briefly as a consultant in the District of Columbia for a firm that focused on law enforcement matters. During his consultancy, he oversaw an audit of the District of Columbia police department’s emergency communications center, the South Pasadena Police Department’s emergency communications center, and the Denver Police Department’s internal affairs function. He also assisted in agency audits in Belmont, Ohio, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

During his tenure as chief of police in Charlottesville, Longo was responsible for providing leadership over several high-profile investigations that impacted the University of Virginia community: the murder of student athlete Yeardley Love, the disappearance and murder of second-year student Hannah Graham, and the investigation into allegations of sexual assault stemming from a 2014 article in Rolling Stone magazine.

After more than 15 years, Longo retired from the Charlottesville police department in 2016. Later that year, he joined the faculty of the University of Virginia’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies to create a master’s degree in public safety that addresses such issues as the challenges of 21st-century policing and the evolving role of law enforcement in serving the communities they protect. The program was approved by the Virginia State Council on Higher Education and is awaiting launch.

Longo also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the Law School, where he teaches Police Use of Force, and guest lectures in a host of other programs related to the criminal justice system.

In addition to his primary law enforcement and educational endeavors, Longo has served as part of a team of independent monitors appointed to conduct police department oversight on behalf of the federal courts in three cities across America. In addition to these responsibilities, he has served as a police practice expert on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of legal matters in state and federal courts pertaining to law enforcement and municipal policy and practice.