Terry Sullivan

Major, Hanover County Sheriff’s Office

Major Terry Sullivan has served more than three decades as a law enforcement officer beginning his career while serving in the United States Air Force during the early nineties as a military police officer. After an honorable discharge, he began working for the Gulfport Police Department in Mississippi for several years where he served as a patrolman and field training officer.

 In 1998, he moved back to Virginia and began his career with the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office. He served as a patrolman and field training officer and then a general investigator before being the agency’s first investigator assigned to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in 2002 until he was promoted to sergeant in 2004. Major Sullivan has served as a Public Information Officer, (PIO) as well as an accreditation officer for the Sheriff’s Office and served as an original member to the Sheriff’s Office bike team when it was first created. He has served as a Patrol Deputy, Investigator, Sergeant, Lieutenant and was promoted to the rank of a Captain in April 2020. As Captain he supervised many external and internal communications. Within his command were the Crime Prevention, Public Information Office, Records and Criminal Intelligence Units which also encompassed the Sheriff’s Office FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and State Police Fusion Center assigned personnel. In 2026 he was promoted to Major serving over the Special Operations Division where his responsibilities include partnerships with the Global SHIELD Network, all specialized teams, judicial services, warrant services, youth services, incident command planning and homeland security for critical events and community engagement.

Throughout his career, Major Sullivan has supported many local, state and federal operations. While serving in the intelligence community, he supported the development of the Predictive Policing Program in partnership with the University of Virginia which was published by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and served as a contributing author to the book entitled “The Handbook on Public and Private Security” in partnership with Temple University and George Mason University. In addition, he supported the original design and development of the Global SHIELD Network counterterrorism initiative in partnership with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and has served as a keynote speaker since 2017 at multiple conferences throughout the United States and in foreign countries on public/private partnerships to combat crime and terrorism around the world.

Major Sullivan has served with the Virginia State Police as the state’s first Intelligence Liaison Officer (ILO) and has served as the Sheriff’s Office liaison with federal and state partners. In addition, Major Sullivan has served as executive board member for the Global SHIELD Network (GSN) and more recently served as the elected President of the GSN. The Global SHIELD Network is a public/private partnership network which connects with law enforcement agencies throughout the world.

Major Sullivan is a Leadership in Counter Terrorism (LinCT) Alumni, a member of the National Sheriff’s Association, the Virginia Sheriff’s Association, and active member of ASIS International. In addition, he serves as an instructor for the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police (VACP) where he teaches several courses on project management and leadership best practices.

Major Sullivan is graduate of Newburg Theological Seminary, the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police Institute for Leadership in Changing Times (ILICT), the Professional Executive Leadership School (PELS), FBI Executive Leadership Institute, the Richmond Chamber of Commerce Leadership Lab, Leadership in Counter Terrorism (LinCT) program and the University of Virginia Criminal Justice Command College.

Major Sullivan is an academic honor graduate from the United States Air Force Military Police Academy, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office Police Academy, MS, the Gulfport Police Department Academy, MS, and the Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy. He has received the Air Force Good Conduct Medal and Achievement Medal and the Hanover Sheriff’s Office Dedication to Duty Awards, Meritorious Service Awards, Excellent Service Awards, and Officer of The Year twice. In addition, he was selected by the Virginia Sheriff’s Association as Deputy of the Year, received the “Community Builder” Award given by the Masonic Grand Lodge of Virginia, and selected for the “Unsung Hero” Award by the Virginia State Attorney General’s Office. Major Sullivan was also recognized and added to the ASIS “Gallery of Stars”.