The Virginia State Police is starting the New Year with new leadership in its Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). The promotions result from the Feb. 1, 2017, retirement of current BCI Director, Lt. Colonel Rick A. Jenkins.
BCI is the investigative branch of the Virginia State Police and consists of seven field offices across the Commonwealth. Within each field office is a General Investigative Section (GIS) and a Drug Enforcement Section (DES). The bureau also consists of the High-Tech Crimes Division, Criminal Intelligence Division, Help Eliminate Auto Theft (H.E.A.T.) Unit, Insurance Fraud Unit, and Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Interdiction (CCI) Unit.
Colonel W. Steven Flaherty appointed Major Gary T. Settle, the BCI deputy director since July 2015, as the new Bureau director effective Jan. 25, 2017. Prior to being appointed to the Executive Staff, Settle served as the BCI Commander for the Culpeper Field Office. Settle began his law enforcement career in 1984 as a deputy with the Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Office. He joined the state police in 1986 and was assigned to Frederick and Clarke counties as a new trooper. In 1996, he was elected sheriff in Rappahannock County and in 2000 returned to state police.
During his tenure with state police, Settle has served as a special agent, sergeant, first sergeant, field lieutenant, DES lieutenant and captain, while assigned to the state police Culpeper and Wytheville divisions. He was appointed to BCI captain of the Culpeper Field Office July 25, 2010. Settle earned a Master’s in Homeland Security and Defense from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., and holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration. The Rappahannock County native also completed the University of Virginia National Criminal Justice Command College and the National Sheriff’s Institute Executive Management Program in Colorado.
Effective Feb. 10, 2017, Capt. Timothy D. Lyon will step into the BCI Deputy Director position vacated by Settle. Lyon is currently the BCI commander for the Salem Field Office. Lyon began his career with the State Police upon graduation from the Academy in February 1986. His first three years as trooper were spent patrolling Pulaski and Giles County in the Wytheville Division’s Area 24. In 1989, he was appointed to special agent and transferred to the BCI Chesapeake Field Office.
During his tenure with State Police, Lyon has progressed through the BCI ranks at the Salem Field Office as a special agent, narcotics task force coordinator, first sergeant and lieutenant in both the General Investigations and Drug Enforcement sections. In 2011, he was appointed to Captain and served as the commander of the BCI Appomattox Field Office. The Carroll County native then transferred in November 2013 to his current position as commander of the BCI Salem Field Office. Lyon graduated Eastern Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in police administration. He is also a 2004 graduate of the FBI National Academy and completed a six-month fellowship with the FBI’s Police Executive Fellowship Program where he served on the National Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). Lyon is a founding member of the Eastern Kentucky University’s Association of Security/Loss Prevention. He earned the Virginia State Police Superintendent’s Award of Merit for his superior response and leadership during the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech massacre and criminal investigation.
Retiring after a distinguished 38-year career with the state police, Lt. Col. Jenkins has served as BCI director since his appointment July 10, 2015. A native of Fauquier County, Jenkins began his state police career in 1978 as a dispatcher in the Culpeper Division. He graduated from the state police Academy in 1981 with his first patrol assignment as a trooper in Spotsylvania County. During the next 23 years, the highly-skilled investigator and supervisor moved through the state police ranks as a special agent, special agent accountant, and supervisor in the Culpeper Field Office.
In 2004, he was promoted to the rank of BCI captain and oversaw that office’s GIS and DES personnel. Jenkins earned a Bachelor of Liberal Studies in Criminal Justice Administration from the University of Mary Washington and a Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Criminal Justice Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is also a graduate of the Administrative Officers Management Program from North Carolina State University. During his tenure with the Department, Jenkins has also earned numerous awards and recognitions for his investigative expertise and dedication to public service.
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