Terry Gainer

Sergeant at Arms

United States Senate

Terrance W. Gainer was sworn in as the 38th United States Senate Sergeant at Arms on January 4, 2007. Mr. Gainer’s career spans decades of experience in public safety, including recently serving as Chief of Police of the United States Capitol Police.

Mr. Gainer began his law enforcement career as a police officer in Chicago, Illinois in 1968, and rose through the ranks as a homicide detective, sergeant and executive assistant in the Administrative Services Bureau. An accomplished attorney who was admitted in Illinois, Federal District Court and U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Gainer served as the chief legal officer of the Chicago Police Department from 1981 through 1984, where he assisted in negotiating the city's first labor contract with the police union.

Mr. Gainer entered the Illinois state government in 1987, serving first as Deputy Inspector General, then, until 1989, as Deputy Director of the Illinois State Police, where he also served as Chief of Staff. He then served for nearly two years at the U.S. Department of Transportation as Special Assistant to the Secretary and Director for Drug Enforcement and Compliance. In March 1991, Governor Jim Edgar appointed Mr. Gainer to the position of Director of the Illinois State Police. In May 1998, Mr. Gainer moved to Washington, DC, to accept the position of Executive Assistant Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, where he served as second-in-command of the 4,200-member department.

In 2002, Mr. Gainer was sworn in as Chief of the United States Capitol Police, where he commanded a force of nearly 2,000 sworn and civilian personnel who provide comprehensive law enforcement, security, and protective operations services for the United States Congress, its staff, and more than 11 million annual visitors. Mr. Gainer was the sixth person to hold the position of Chief of Police since the position was created by an Act of Congress in 1979. Mr. Gainer was the first Chief to serve as an ex-officio member of the Capitol Police Board.

After leaving the USCP, Mr. Gainer entered the private sector as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Blue Falcon Solutions, LLC, focusing on law enforcement and emergency preparedness issues for The Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington and the Turks & Caicos Sporting Club in the British West Indies. In October 2006, Mr. Gainer was named Vice President and Program Manager, Law Enforcement Programs, International Group for MPRI an L-3 communications company. In that capacity, Mr. Gainer was responsible for a multi-million dollar innovative law enforcement program supporting Army and Marine operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Gainer was born in Chicago, Illinois, and received his bachelor's degree in Sociology from St. Benedict's College in Atchison, Kansas, and his Master of Science in Management of Public Service and Juris Doctor Degrees from DePaul University of Chicago. A 1993 graduate of the FBI National Executive Institute, Mr. Gainer was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago and Springfield campuses. Mr. Gainer is a decorated veteran who served in Viet Nam and retired as a Captain in the United States Naval Reserve in 2000, having served in a variety of command and staff positions as a Surface Warfare Officer. He is married to Irene Gainer, a nurse and attorney with the United States Peace Corps, and has six children and 12 grandchildren.