Will Johnson
BNSF Railway
Chief Special Agent, Assistant Vice President
Chief Will Johnson has twenty-nine years of law enforcement experience and serves as the Chief Special Agent and Assistant Vice President of the BNSF Railway Police Department. BNSF Railway is one of the largest railroad companies in North America, operating in 28 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. Before joining BNSF Railway, Chief Johnson served eight years as the Arlington, Texas, Chief of Police, leading a team of nearly 1,000 employees. Under Chief Johnson's leadership, APD earned national recognition as a premier law enforcement agency in the United States for promoting community policing, procedural justice, and protecting the civil rights of all people. Chief Johnson serves as 4th Vice President for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the 1st Vice President for the Texas Police Chiefs Association. Previously Chief Johnson served as the chair of the IACP Human and Civil Rights Committee, the chair for the Police Professional Standards, Ethics, and Image Committee, and served on the IACP Financial Review Committee. He is a lifetime member of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and served as an executive board member from 2019 to 2020. Chief Johnson also currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Children in Tarrant County, Texas and the executive board for the FBI National Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Chief Johnson serves as a subject matter expert for the Department of Justice and is an executive fellow for the Police Executive Research Forum. He is credited with developing the first national best practices for the use of conducted energy weapons in policing. Chief Johnson is a past recipient of the Police Executive Research Forum Gary P. Hayes Leadership Award, the Ethical Leadership Award from the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration, and the Civil Rights Award from the IACP.
Chief Johnson holds a master's degree from Texas Christian University and a bachelor's degree from Texas Tech University. He graduated from the FBI National Academy 245th Session, where he was honored to serve as the session president. He is also a graduate of the 35th session of the Senior Management Institute for Police, the 40th FBI National Executive Institute, and the Texas Law Enforcement Management Institute's 45th Leadership Command College