Command Staff

On January 7th Col. Ken Hunter became the Interim Director for the Arizona Department of Public Safety. In March of 2020, Director Heston Silbert selected Lieutenant Colonel Ken Hunter to serve as the Deputy Director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZ DPS). Prior to this appointment, Lt. Colonel Hunter was serving in the appointed position of Assistant Director of the Department’s Criminal Investigations Division, commanding the Intelligence, Investigations, Gang Enforcement and Border Strike Force Bureaus. Lt. Colonel Hunter also previously held the appointed position of Assistant Director of the Agency Support Division, directing the Logistics and Management Services Bureaus, as well as the Human Resources Section. These bureaus exist to support the mission critical units of AZ DPS such as Recruiting, Training, Finance, Public Records, Fleet, Aviation, and Peer Support, to name just a few.

Lt. Colonel Hunter began his career as a trooper with the AZ DPS in September of 1989 and was assigned to the Highway Patrol Division in Winslow, Arizona. As a trooper he completed assignments in motors, commercial vehicle enforcement and as a detective assigned to gang enforcement.

Lt. Colonel Hunter promoted to sergeant and was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division. He supervised a gang enforcement squad in southern Arizona responsible for documenting and investigating criminal street gangs and transnational criminal organizations. Additionally, he held supervisory assignments at the Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy and the Internal Affairs Unit.

After promoting to captain, he was assigned to the Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area where he facilitated, supported and enhanced collaborative drug control efforts among law enforcement agencies. He also held command assignments in the Southern Gang Enforcement District, the Southern Commercial Vehicle District, and Canine District.

Lt. Colonel Hunter holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Safety Administration from Grand Canyon University. He is a graduate of the Police Executive Research Forum Senior Management Institute for Police, Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command and the Leadership in Police Organizations Command program.

In April of 2015, DPS Director Frank Milstead promoted Danny Lugo from the rank of Major to Lt. Colonel and assigned him as Assistant Director of the Highway Patrol Division. On August 5th, 2017 Lt. Col. Lugo was appointed to the Assistant Director position over the Criminal Investigations Division. In March 2019, Lt. Col. Lugo was appointed to the Assistant Director position in the Agency Support Division and on July 2nd, 2022, under Department of Public Safety Director Heston Silbert, Lt. Col. Lugo was appointed to the Assistant Director position in the Criminal Investigations Unit, where he serves currently.

During his thirty-four years as an Arizona State Trooper, he has held a variety of positions in the Highway Patrol Division and the Criminal Investigations Division throughout the state. Lt. Colonel Lugo has spent approximately twenty-two-years of his career in the Criminal Investigations Division serving in several multi-agency task forces. Prior to his promotion, he served as the Investigations Bureau Commander over statewide Narcotics Enforcement, Auto Theft Task Force, SWAT, and Homicide Investigations (Major Crimes Unit) at the rank of major. Lt. Colonel Lugo served for approximately three years as the full-time SWAT Commander and has approximately 17 years of total SWAT experience as a SWAT Operator, Assistant Team Leader, Team Leader and Commander.

He served three years as the Highway Patrol District Commander in Tucson and approximately one and one-half years as the State Gang Task Force Border District Commander, both at the rank of captain. Lt. Colonel Lugo was assigned to the State Gang Task Force on four separate occasions throughout his career and one year as a Border Intelligence Commander, at the rank of lieutenant. As a sergeant, he served a three-year assignment at the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC), which is a multi-agency intelligence fusion center.

His additional assignments in the Criminal Investigations Division as a sergeant were in the areas of Financial Investigations, Administrative Sergeant, Intelligence Supervisor, Undercover Narcotics Detective and Supervisor, Major Offenders Unit Detective and Supervisor, Meth Lab Task Force Supervisor, State Gang Task Force Supervisor (as well as a Detective), and SWAT Team Leader.

Lt. Colonel Lugo attended the Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy, the Pima County Corrections Officer Basic Academy, and honorably served four years in the United States Marine Corps with assignments in Japan, South Korea, and California. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command and the West Point Leadership in Police Organizations (LPO) Command program. In March of 2016, he graduated from the FBI National Academy Session #263 in Quantico, Virginia. Lt. Colonel Lugo has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Organizational Leadership.

Lt. Colonel Lugo was instrumental in starting the Tucson Chapter of the Latino Peace Officers Association (LPOA) and served as Tucson Chapter President for two years. He is also a Lifetime Member of the LPOA. He is a proud member of the Arizona State Troopers Association (ASTA), State Troopers Coalition, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police (AACOP), National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 32.

In July 2019, Jenna Mitchell was appointed to Assistant Director (Lieutenant Colonel) assigned to the Highway Patrol Division of the Department of Public Safety and on July 2nd, 2022, Lt. Col. Mitchell was appointed to the Assistant Director position in the Agency Support Division, where she serves currently.

Lt. Colonel Mitchell began her career as an officer trainee in July of 1993. She attended the Phoenix Regional Police Academy and became a trooper in May of 1995. Her first assignment was to the Highway Patrol in District Six, Casa Grande. During this assignment she served as a field training officer, general instructor, phlebotomist, reserve coordinator, and she also coordinated the first Citizen Academy in District Six.

While assigned as a trooper in District Six, she was recognized as the District Six and Southern Highway Patrol Bureau Officer of the Year in 2000. She promoted to sergeant in 2001, and remained in the Highway Patrol in District Six, Casa Grande.

She promoted to captain in March of 2006; she was assigned to the Management Services Bureau where she was responsible for the Research and Planning Section, the Safety and Loss Unit, and the Public Records Section. She also held command assignments in the Highway Patrol Metro East District, Southern Gang Enforcement District, and the Canine District.

Lt. Colonel Mitchell was recognized in 2011 as the Criminal Investigations Division Commander of the Year and was the recipient of the Director’s Unit Citation for her role in the development of the Advanced Criminal Interdiction Training Program.

Lt. Colonel Mitchell promoted to the rank of major in May of 2015 and has served as the chief of staff for the Criminal Investigations Division, as well as the Agency Support Division. As chief of staff, she was involved with the implementation of major technological improvements in both divisions, with a strong focus on performance management, efficiency, and employee and leadership development.

Lt. Colonel Mitchell holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Arizona State University. She is a graduate of the Police Executive Research Forum Senior Management Institute for Police, Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command and the Leadership in Police Organizations Command program.

In June 2012, Timothy Chung was promoted from the rank of Major to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed as the Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigations Division. In July 2015, Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead appointed Lt. Colonel Chung as the Assistant Director of the Technical Services Division. On July 2nd, 2022, Lt. Col. Chung was appointed to the Assistant Director position of the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Task Force, by Department of Public Safety Director Heston Silbert, where he serves currently.

Lt. Colonel Chung began his law enforcement career at the La Paz County Sheriff’s Office in Parker, Arizona, in June 1986, where he held the positions of jailer, dispatcher, patrol deputy, investigator, and sergeant.

In December 1991, Lt. Colonel Chung joined the ranks of DPS and has held various assignments in each of the Department’s operational and support divisions. As an officer, his first assignment was patrolling the Quartzsite/Parker area. In 1994, he relocated to Phoenix and held assignments in the Vehicle Theft Investigations Unit and the Special Investigations Unit.

In 1998, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and was assigned to the Highway Patrol Division’s District Eight, in Nogales, Arizona, until he transferred back to Phoenix to oversee the Special Investigations Unit in 2000. In 2002, Lt. Colonel Chung was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and led the Major Crimes Investigation District. He transferred to an administrative staff position in the Criminal Justice Support Division, currently the Technical Services Division, in 2005. In 2007, he was responsible for forming the Immigration Enforcement District and led the multi-agency Illegal Immigration Prevention and Apprehension Co-op Teams (IIMPACT) and Arizona Fraudulent Identification Task Force.

In 2008, Lt. Colonel Chung was promoted to the rank of Major overseeing the Gang Enforcement Bureau which comprised the statewide multi-agency Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission (GIITEM). He served as Chief of Staff/Executive Officer for the Technical Services Division from 2009 to 2011. From 2011 until his promotion to Lt. Colonel, he worked within the Director’s Office overseeing the Management Services Bureau.

Lt. Colonel Chung has had many accomplishments, received numerous awards, and served on numerous work groups at the Department. He earned his Certified Public Manager national certification from Arizona State University and is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command, the International Association of Chiefs of Police Leadership in Police Organizations, and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government. He holds an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Law Enforcement Technology, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Occupational Education, majoring in Human Services, and a Masters Degree in Public Administration, specializing in Government Administration.

Lt. Colonel Deston Coleman Jr. was promoted and appointed as the Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigations Division on March 21, 2020 and on July 2nd, 2022, Lt. Col. Coleman was appointed to the Assistant Director position in the Highway Patrol Division, where he now serves currently. The Highway Patrol Division provides law enforcement services throughout the state, assuring the safety and efficiency of the highway transportation system, in addition to providing support to local and county law enforcement agencies. The Highway Patrol Division also provides services and enforcement for commercial motor vehicles, tow trucks, student transportation, and safety programs.

In 1991, Lt. Colonel Coleman began his career with the Arizona Department of Public Safety as a cadet officer. After graduation, he worked in the Highway Patrol Division as a state trooper in Bullhead City. As a trooper, he completed assignments in Gila Bend and Metro Phoenix Patrol, the Vehicular Crimes Unit, and the State Gang Task Force.

Lt. Colonel Coleman promoted to sergeant and was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division. He supervised the Vehicular Crimes Unit and was responsible for the investigation and prosecution of vehicular homicides throughout the State of Arizona. Additionally, he held supervisory assignments in the Special Investigations Unit and Internal Affairs.

After promoting to captain, Lt. Colonel Coleman was assigned to Metro Phoenix Patrol, Shift Three. He also held command assignments in the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Bureau and Internal Affairs. Lt. Colonel Coleman took command of the Gang Enforcement Bureau when he promoted to major, then served as the commander for the Metro Phoenix Patrol Bureau, prior to his appointment as the Chief of Staff of the Highway Patrol Division.

Lt. Colonel Coleman holds a bachelor’s degree in Justice Studies from Arizona State University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy (Class 269), the IACP Leadership in Police Organizations, and the Arizona State University Certified Public Manager Program.