After less than a year as Acting Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, Warren Stanley (pictured at right) was formally appointed Commissioner by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. Friday.

Stanley, 56, of Sacramento, has served as Acting Commissioner since 2017. He has been employed with the CHP since 1982 and is one of the distinguished few to hold every position from Officer to Commissioner within the CHP.

While working as a patrol officer, Stanley served as a member of the Protective Services Detail and worked as a Field Training Officer. He excelled through the ranks, supervising the CHP’s Border Division Investigative Services Unit as a Lieutenant, and served as the Commander of the CHP Academy, where he was responsible for the leadership of 191 employees and the training of approximately 1,700 cadets.

He promoted to the rank of Chief in 2008 and assumed command of the CHP’s Coastal Division followed by the CHP’s Southern Division.

Stanley was appointed to the rank of Assistant Commissioner, Staff, in 2010, followed by the rank of Assistant Commissioner, Field, in 2012.

Prior to his appointment to Commissioner, he served as the Deputy Commissioner and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the largest state law enforcement agency in the nation, a department with more than 11,000 employees.

“I would first and foremost like to thank Governor Brown for placing his trust in me and giving me this incredible opportunity to lead the California Highway Patrol,” Stanley said in a statement. “I am extremely honored and proud to accept this appointment and serve as your Commissioner. I vow to continue the CHP’s long and distinguished legacy of providing safety, service and security to the people of California, and lead a department committed to earning the public’s trust every day.”

Stanley holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from California State University, Los Angeles, and is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Executive Institute.

“CHP Commissioner Stanley has served the public for more than 35 years with the California Highway Patrol, excelling at every role from patrol officer to deputy commissioner where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the CHP,” said Acting Transportation Agency Secretary Brian Annis.

“Warren has led the CHP’s response in the face of some of the worst natural disasters in this state’s history,” Annis said. “We know that under his leadership the department will continue to uphold its mission.”

Stanley is the first African American in the history of the CHP to hold the rank of Commissioner.

In the photo above, the California National Guard’s Adjutant General Maj. Gen. David S. Baldwin speaks with then-Acting California Highway Patrol Commissioner Warren Stanley before an air and ground survey of Northern California fires near Santa Rosa, California, Oct. 14, 2017. (Army National Guard photo by Capt. Will Martin/Released.)