Former IMPD chief Riggs gets another new job—this time in Denver

Former Indianapolis police chief Troy Riggs on Monday continued his history of frequent career moves with a promotion to a top public safety role in Denver.

The city of Denver announced Riggs as its new executive director of the Department of Public Safety "to oversee the Police, Fire and Sheriff’s Departments, Denver 911, Community Corrections, Safety Youth Programs and gang reduction initiatives.”

The Denver press release said Riggs joined the city's Department of Public Safety last year as deputy director. Riggs' profile on the social media site Linkedin says he was employed as a senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute, an Indianapolis think tank, until November.

“Troy has a national reputation for excellence in criminal justice and public safety,” according to a statement from Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock. "I’m confident that he will continue to build up the public’s confidence and trust in Denver’s safety agencies while maintaining our high level of integrity and commitment to criminal justice.”

The Denver move follows a series of new jobs for Riggs over the last several years.

Riggs came to Indianapolis in 2012 to serve as the city’s director of public safety under former Mayor Greg Ballard. He previously had served in law enforcement roles in Louisville, Kentucky, and Corpus Christi, Texas.

After serving in the role for nearly three years, he stepped down to teach and study public safety projects at IUPUI.

He was hired back at the city as chief of police when Mayor Joe Hogsett was elected in 2015, and served for just about a year, before quitting to become a senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute.

At the time he quit the chief of police job, he said he was thinking of his “financial future.”

He earned $117,187 annually as chief of police. IBJ reported at the time that he had warned Hogsett that financial considerations might lure him away from the city.