Administration/Command

Chief of Police- Rich St. John

Chief of Police Rich St. John joined Billings Police Department in 1981. During his tenure, Chief St. John rose through the ranks of patrol and investigations to Sergeant in 1989. He served as a Lieutenant in Patrol, Investigations and Operations between 1991 and 2004. He was Captain of Operations until being promoted to Deputy Chief in 2005 and Chief in 2006. Chief St. John has led the Bomb Squat, SWAT Team and was a Hostage Negotiator. He is a 1994 graduate of the FBI National Academy. 

Assistant Chief of Police- Neil Lawrence

Capt. Neil Lawrence joined Billings Police Department in 1994. He was a patrol officer and as a Sergeant led the City-County Special Investigations Unit. When promoted to Lieutenant, he re-turned to Operations as a shift commander. During his career, Capt. Lawrence was a member of the SWAT team. He was promoted to Captain in 2018 and took over the Office of Professional Standards where he receives complaints and conducts all internal investigations in addition to supervising the Administrative Lieutenant.

Captain of Professional Standards- RD Harper

Captain RD Harper joined Billings Police Department in 1994. He came to Billings from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington DC. He became Captain of Operations in 2012 and Captain of Investigations in 2019.  The Investigations Division  includes 19 detectives, 9 patrol officers on special details, two Lieutenants and two Sergeants. The division includes the BPD Evidence staff and facility, the Crime Analyst, the City-County Special Investigations Unit and the Street Crimes Unit. He is thankful that he and his wife have been able to raise their children in such a wonderful community and is happy to call Billings and Montana home.

Captain of Investigations- Brian Korell

Captain Brian Korell joined Billings Police Department in 1994. As a patrol officer, Capt. Korell joined the BPD K9 Unit and handled two different dogs for nearly 10 years. After retiring his  second dog, he took over command of the City-County Special Investigations Unit as a Sergeant in 2008. In 2015, he was promoted to Lieutenant and moved back to patrol. In 2018 he became Captain of the Operations Division. The Division is comprised of the majority of the Department’s 156 sworn officers, including three Lieutenants and 12 Sergeants. The Operations Division also includes the civilian Support Services Division which is managed by a Records Supervisor and is comprised of 13 staff members. 

Captain of Operations- Shawn Mayo

Captain Shawn Mayo began his career with the Billings Police Department in 2001. He worked night and noon shifts as a patrol officer until his promotions to sergeant in 2007. During his time as a sergeant, he continued to work in the Patrol Division until he transferred to the Detective Division in 2013. Mayo worked as a detective sergeant until his promotion to lieutenant in 2015. Since then, he had served in the patrol division as a shift lieutenant. In 2022, Captain Mayo retired from SWAT as the SWAT commander after nearly 18 years on the team.