• September 30 - October 2, 2024
  • Inland Distribution
  • September 30 - October 2, 2024 | The Westin Chicago River North

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

Sessions With Will Johnson

Wednesday, 2 October

  • 09:50am - 10:20am (CST) / 02/oct/2024 02:50 pm - 02/oct/2024 03:20 pm

    Cargo Crime II: Rail
    Cargo security is also a concern for intermodal rail shippers. Exporters have complained about seal breaks between the Midwest or Mid-South and West Coast US ports. When the seal is broken, many exporters must pay to return the cargo back to origin, dispose of the materials, and pay for a new shipment to protect the health and safety of the recipient, even if nothing was taken. Seal breaks are also a problem in domestic intermodal. Sometimes cargo is stolen, other times the crooks open the door but take nothing, but either way unauthorized individuals are accessing trains. The domestic intermodal providers can provide some intelligence with devices on their containers that send an alert when the door is open while in transit. The data doesn’t tell who broke into the container, but it can disclose when and where it happened. Most ocean containers don’t have such technology. This session will assess what steps intermodal providers are taking to protect the cargo under their care and custody and deter or prevent break-ins, regardless of whether cargo is stolen or not. What are the pros and cons of the measures being implemented today? Are there other solutions shippers should consider to bolster cargo security? 
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