2023 Speakers

John Letteney was sworn in as Chief of Police for the Thomasville (GA) Police Department in January 2021. He previously served as Chief of Police for the Apex (NC) Police Department (2012 - 2021) and the Southern Pines (NC) Police Department (2005 - 2012). In 2005, Chief Letteney retired as a Captain/Zone Commander from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in Rochester, New York, where he was responsible for a police substation as well as law enforcement services for an international airport. During his 40-year law enforcement career, he has served in patrol, investigations, training, accreditation, tactical operations, inspections and administration. Chief Letteney currently serves as the President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and is a Past General Chair for the Division of State Associations of Chiefs of Police (SACOP).

Chief Letteney has represented the IACP throughout the membership. He served as a Mentor for the IACP’s New Police Chief Mentoring Project, and is a past member of the IACP Civilian Law Enforcement/Military Cooperation Committee (CLEMCC), the Sergeant-At-Arms Committee and the Resolutions Committee. He chairs the IACP Investigations Policy Council.

Chief Letteney is a Past President of the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police (NCACP), and received their Outstanding Service Award for 2015. He also received the 2013 Outstanding Law Enforcement Executive of the Year award from the North Carolina chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), was honored as the 2017 Chief of the Year and honored with the 2020 “Blue Flame of Hope” Award by Special Olympics of North Carolina, and was named a “Magnus Gladio Leader” by the National Command and Staff College in 2018.

In 2020 he was appointed to the Respect for Law Enforcement and the Rule of Law Working Group of the Presidents Commission on the Administration of Justice, and was appointed by the Governor of North Carolina to both the Governor's Crime Commission and the Governor's Task Force on Racial Equity in Criminal Justice.
Chief Letteney is certified by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police as a Chief Executive, holds an Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate in North Carolina, has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, and is a graduate of the FBI Command College and the 248th Session of the FBI National Academy.