Ronal W. Serpas

Ronal Serpas, 2010

Ronal W. Serpas Ph.D. (born circa 1961) is an American university professor at Loyola University New Orleans who served as the Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department from May, 2010 until his resignation on August 18, 2014, having been appointed to that post by Mayor Mitch Landrieu. He was succeeded as Superintendent by Michael S. Harrison.

Ronal Serpas began his law enforcement career with the New Orleans Police Department in June, 1980 and rose through the ranks to become Assistant Superintendent and Chief of Operations in October, 1996, serving in that post under then-Superintendent Richard Pennington until July, 2001. Prior to returning to the New Orleans Police Department, he served as Chief of the Washington State Patrol in the Cabinet of Governor Gary Locke from August, 2001 until January, 2004, and as Chief of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department from January, 2004 until May, 2010.

During his service as New Orleans Police Superintendent, he was also a member of the Governing Body of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Serpas was Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department during the three years investigated by the Office of the Inspector General, which resulted in a report indicating that 1,111 cases of rape went unreported and/or were not investigated. In June 2015 the New Orleans Police Department reported that during the course of the investigation, PIB learned that a majority of the 840 cases classified as 21 Complaints were not related to a call for service regarding criminal activity. Rather, the cases were Sex Offender Checks. A Sex Offender Check occurs when an officer conducts an investigation on a registered sex offender to ensure that they are following all required protocols. The documentation is maintained in a filing system separate from the SVS.