Phil Ryan

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Phillip R. "Phil" Ryan (born in Oklahoma on August 10, 1945) is a former Texas Ranger and the three term Sheriff of Wise County, Texas. He entered law enforcement in 1965 at age 19, initially serving as a police officer in Pasadena, Texas. He later joined the Texas Department of Public Safety as a highway patrolman assigned to Houston and Cleveland, Texas. In 1976, he was promoted to highway patrol sergeant, which took him to Humble, Texas. He applied for and was accepted to service in the Texas Ranger Division and served as a Ranger in Decatur, Texas, which also covered Jack, Montague, and Clay counties.

As a Texas Ranger, Ryan worked many cases that made him well known not only throughout the state, but throughout the nation. He is most notable for his arrest of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, but also was also the Texas Ranger assigned to the Ricky Lee and Sharon Green case, two of the most notorious serial killers in Wise County, Texas history.

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[edit] Wise County Sheriff

After retiring from law enforcement, Ryan entered the private sector, but this would only last for a short time. In 1992, Ryan began his campaign for Wise County Sheriff, running on the Democratic ballot. On March 20, 1992, he took his oath of office for the first of three terms as the elected Sheriff. Under his leadership as Sheriff, the department enjoyed many improvements, including a new crime prevention division, implementation of a county-wide Crime Stoppers program, and improved information technology.

[edit] Walker, Texas Ranger

Ryan was a technical consultant to the Walker, Texas Ranger television program, and briefly appeared in Little Texas' "God Blessed Texas" video with two other Texas Rangers. He currently is retired in Decatur, where he is a security consultant to private businesses.

[edit] Personal life

Ryan is married to the former Sidney Calvert, his fourth wife. He has three children from his first marriage, Phillip Ryan Jr., a police officer in East Texas, Ronda Ryan Schweiger of Las Colinas, Texas, and Daryle Ryan, a former San Antonio, Texas police officer.

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