About Your Constable

Constable John D. Shirley


My public service career began in 1994 with the Houston Police Department, where I worked until retiring honorably in 2015. I’ve been a resident of Hood County since that time.

During my twenty years at the Houston Police Department I gained experience in many different aspects of law enforcement. As an Officer I worked in patrol, bicycle patrol, crime analysis, homicide cold case investigation, policy development, and internal auditing. I was also selected to be part of the Special Response Group (SRG), where I trained in crowd control / riot control techniques.

I was promoted to Sergeant in 2002 after testing in the top 5% of almost 1000 candidates. As a Sergeant I worked initially as a patrol supervisor, and then jail supervisor. My career then switched gears when I went into full-time investigations.  I began investigating internal affairs issues, and then was selected to join a murder squad in the Homicide Division. While in Homicide I maintained a 100% clearance rate, and obtained confessions in all but two of my investigations.

My final assignment with the Houston Police Department was in the Financial Crimes Unit where I not only maintained a full investigative load, but also supervised other investigators. Being a Sergeant Investigator, I was assigned high value and high profile cases related to fraud, forgery, identity theft, and material embezzlement. While in the Financial Crimes Unit, I obtained the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) designation.

During my career at the Houston Police Department, I was awarded multiple citizen commendations, two Chief of Police Commendations, one Mayor’s Commendation, and a FBI Investigative Award. The FBI award was related to the successful rescue of a kidnapped child and prosecution of the kidnapper.

I have had more than two dozen articles and white papers published on various fraud topics and investigative strategies. I’ve also been a contributor to several news articles related to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, including an article for CNBC.com and American Banker.

I was an instructor on the topic of cybercrime and digital forensics for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, FBI, and United States Secret Service in January 2018, and was a featured Speaker at the 2018 Dallas Fraud Conference where I spoke about Business Email Compromise Fraud.

I consider it a high honor to continue my law enforcement career as the Constable of Hood County, Precinct 2.