Who's Listening

After living his first 12 years in Tacoma, Washington, Sheriff Derrick Cunningham's parents moved the family to Tuscaloosa, AL. At the age of 21, he saw a TV commercial about careers within the Montgomery Police Department. In the ad, longtime Mayor Emory Folmar said, "If you think you got what it takes, give us a call." Subsequently, a young Derrick Cunningham picked up the phone. After graduating from the police academy in 1989, he ended up 10 years later in the Detective Division investigating homicides where he later became a member of the International Homicide Investigators Association. In 1999, Sheriff D.T. Marshall appointed him as his chief deputy, where he served in that capacity for 15 years until he was sworn in January 2015 as the county's 39th sheriff and Montgomery's first African American sheriff. In his capacity as Sheriff Cunningham heads an agency of over 400 employees and a $50.1 million dollar budget that spans a 643 square mile jurisdiction. For several decades, he has been among the most visible supporters of community-based policing, youth mentoring programs and utilizing smartphone and other technology to better serve the community and reduce crime.

Sheriff Cunningham has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Troy University and a Master of Science Degree from the University of Phoenix. Since the start of his law enforcement career, he has attended numerous schools and seminars throughout the United States. Sheriff Cunningham is a graduate of the F.B.I. National Academy Class 231, he is retired from the Alabama National Guard with over twenty-four years of service and serves as the point of contact for Homeland Security for Montgomery County, overseeing funding for the county. In September 2015, Sheriff Cunningham graduated from the 108th National Sheriff's Institute in Aurora, Colorado and two years later he was sworn in as Sergeant of Arms with the Alabama Sheriff's Association. In 2019 Sheriff Cunningham was sworn in as the Vice President of the Alabama Sheriff's Association.  In January of 2020 he was sworn in as President where he served two consecutive terms until 2022.

If that isn't enough to fill a day, Sheriff Cunningham has been appointed to several state-wide committees by Governor Kay Ivey and he still finds time to serve on the Board of Directors of several non-profit agencies, among them are, Tri-County Alzheimer's Association, Victims of Crime and Leniency, YMCA, Kiwanis club and is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Chief Murphy began his career in 1984 with the Ozark Police Department in Ozark, Alabama.  In 1986 he joined the Montgomery Police Department, holding various positions as a patrol officer, traffic officer and detective.  Chief Murphy rose through the ranks over the years where he was a patrol shift supervisor, robbery-homicide supervisor, property bureau commander, assistant commander of the detective division, patrol division commander and deputy chief of police.  In 2010, he became the 13^th Chief of Police for the City of Montgomery.

Early in his career, Chief Murphy spent several years working alongside Sheriff Cunningham at the Montgomery Police Department in the Detective Division.  Chief Murphy retired from the MPD in 2014 and was appointed by Sheriff Cunningham in 2015 as the Chief Deputy for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.  Chief Murphy is tasked with the supervision of all daily operations of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

Chief Murphy holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree from Auburn Montgomery.  He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and the Alpha Phi Sigma Honor Society.  Chief Murphy graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, 201^st Session in Quantico, Virginia in 2000.  He is also a graduate of the National Executive Institute, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Quantico, Virginia in 2013.  In 2013 Chief Murphy was the first law enforcement member selected from Alabama to be a member of Police Executive Research Forum (PERF).

Chief Murphy is an Alabama Peace Officer’s Standards and Training Commission certified instructor in advanced interrogation and interview techniques.  He is the former chairman of the Alabama Security Regulatory Board, where he served the citizens of Alabama for 14 years as an appointment by the Governor of Alabama.