Terrence M. Cunningham

Chief Terrence M. Cunningham (Ret.) currently serves as the Deputy Executive Director / Chief Operating Officer for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), which has over 34,000 members in 178 countries. Chief Cunningham works directly with the Executive Director / Chief Executive Officer to advance the association’s mission and oversee the day-to-day operations of the IACP and its staff of more than 150 professionals.

Chief Cunningham is responsible for enhancing the association’s professionalism, advocacy, and standing through the development of programs, activities, and interactions. He represents the IACP’s interests with federal, state, and local policymakers, international entities, national associations, and private industry on issues of mutual importance to the association and field. 

He has 43 years of policing experience, 17 of which he spent as Chief of Police in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is a past president of the IACP, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, and the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (Metro-LEC). 

Chief Cunningham is a graduate of the New England Institute of Law Enforcement Management at Babson College; the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy; the Federal Bureau of Investigation Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar at Quantico, Virginia; and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Executive Education Program. He holds both a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree from Northeastern University.