Superintendent Matt Hanley

Upon the retirement of Colonel Gary Settle in February 2025, Lieutenant Colonel Matt Hanley became the Acting Superintendent of the Virginia State Police. He has served with the Virginia State Police since 1993 and is currently the Director of the Bureau of Field Operations. As the Director, he oversees approximately 1,700 sworn and civilian employees with the primary mission to patrol over 70,000 miles of state highways throughout Virginia, providing both traffic and criminal enforcement.

LTC Hanley is also responsible for the coordination of statewide responses to major incidents including civil unrest and natural/man-made disasters, and for numerous specialty units including aviation, tactical team, tactical field force, search and recovery, canine, motorcycle, motor carrier enforcement, crash reconstruction, the motor vehicle safety inspection program, and seven state police dispatch centers.

Other positions held throughout his career include Trooper, Sergeant, Area Commander, Assistant Division Commander, Training Officer, and Director of the Office of Performance Management and Internal Controls.

Lieutenant Colonel Hanley has a master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School (Center for Homeland Defense and Security), a bachelor’s degree from Norwich University, and is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s National Criminal Justice Command College and the FBI National Executive Institute. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs Police, the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Board of Advisors for the Virginia Public Safety Innovation Center.