Chief Virgil L. Green Sr., a 20-year Police Chief veteran has been appointed the City’s new Chief of Police by Mayor Sally Wilson after the current Chief Ollie Collins reported his retirement at the end of October.
“After conducting a three-month long national search which attracted almost twenty applicants from various areas, it became clear to us that Chief Green is what Osceola needs at this time. Chief Green is well qualified to lead us forward and I am honored for him to accept this position.”
Mayor Sally L. Wilson
Chief Virgil L. Green Sr. was born and raised in Hobbs, New Mexico. He has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from American Military University. He began his law enforcement career in 1984 with the Lea County Sheriff Department in Lovington, New Mexico. After moving to Norman, Oklahoma in 1989 he worked in the private sector until 1997 when he became a patrol officer with the Oklahoma City Housing Authority Enforcement Division. In 2000, he was appointed as the Chief of Police with the Boley Police Department.
In 2011, Chief Green accepted the Chief of Police with the City of Spencer, Oklahoma a suburb in Oklahoma City metro area. During his tenure as Chief of Police he was instrumental in making several police operational changes that enhanced the police department’s ability to provide better police service to the citizens of Spencer.
In 2015, after a national search for a police chief in Helena/West Helena, Arkansas, Chief Green was appointed as the police chief. While there, he focused on several key operational enhancements that involved better training for commissioned police officers and civilian employees. He established the agency’s first 911 dispatcher new hire training program that expanded current and new dispatchers training on 911 dispatching procedures.
In 2017, Chief Green returned to Oklahoma City where he became the first African American in the history of Oklahoma County to run for Oklahoma County Sheriff during a special election where he came up short. In 2018, Chief Green became the Deputy police chief/major for the state’s second largest school district in Tulsa, Oklahoma with the district’s campus police department where he was over day-to-day operations of both police officers and security officers. The agency was responsible for school safety plans for 100 Tulsa public school sites, consisting of over 40,000 students and a staff of over 7,000.
Chief Green holds police certification as a peace officer. He is a graduate of the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) and the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy. Chief Green is a graduate of the University of Arkansas Criminal Justice Institute Law Enforcement Executive Management Institute for Police Chief Administration. He is also a graduate of IACP Executive Leadership Training Leading by legacy for command staff. In 2014 Chief Green attended the prestigious law enforcement executive training with the United States Secret Service Dignitary Protection Training for Command Staff in Washington, DC.
In 2009, Chief Green was honored nationally by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with a Public Service Award in recognition of his outstanding dedication in the State of Oklahoma to prevent impaired driving and improve seat belt safety. Chief Green is the former national chairperson for the National Crime Solution Commission, an organization in Atlanta, Georgia tasked with studying and researching crime trends in urban and rural African American communities across the United States. Chief Green over the years has been recognized by local groups and churches for his outstanding community outreach efforts to build better partnerships between police and the minority community. Chief Green is a former youth volunteer coach with the local Earlywine YMCA in OKC.
Chief Green also is one of the co-founders and co-hosts of a national law enforcement podcast show, “You and the Law” podcast show. He is a member of the Church of Christ Church and has been married to his wife Pam for 27 years and they have two children together, ages 19 and 20. He also has two adult children from a previous marriage and his wife has three adult children from a previous marriage. They are the proud grandparents of 20 grandchildren.
Chief Green shared in a statement that he is honored and humbled that Osceola Mayor Sally Wilson and the five-person selection panel have selected him after a national police chief search to replace retiring Police Chief Ollie Collins. “I’m excited to come in and work with the men and women of the Osceola Police Department. This is a very good department. When I walked through the OPD facility it is apparent that this is an agency that’s moving in the right direction. My job will be to come in and work with the officers and civilian staff to see how we can enhance the police operations, to where we can better serve the citizens and businesses of Osceola.” Green shared that he was impressed to see the city and the private sector working together towards public safety with the investment into a robust and growing city-wide, surveillance camera system that’s tied into the police department communication center. “I can’t wait to get sworn in and meet the community, I truly believe we can be one of the safest cities in the state," Green said.