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2016 SESSION
WHEREAS, Jay Cochran, Jr., a long-serving law-enforcement professional and former executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police and the Virginia Police Chiefs Foundation, passed away on February 4, 2016, in Ashburn; and
WHEREAS, Jay Cochran was born in Gary, Indiana, on October 15, 1927; he graduated from Michigan State University in May 1951 with a degree in mechanical engineering and received an appointment to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in March 1952; he was initially assigned to the Tulsa, Oklahoma, office before transferring to New York City; and
WHEREAS, Jay Cochran spent 10 years in the FBI laboratory in Washington, D.C., where he worked on several cases with historical significance; he opted for administrative advancement and transferred to El Paso, Texas, as assistant special agent in charge; to Houston, Texas, as assistant special agent in charge and inspector; to Savannah, Georgia, as the special agent in charge; and then back to Washington, D.C., as assistant director of the FBI, all over the span of 27 years; and
WHEREAS, three days after his retirement from the FBI in 1979, Jay Cochran was appointed director of the Virginia State Police’s newly formed Bureau of Criminal Investigation, where he worked for six years; and
WHEREAS, Jay Cochran was then appointed commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police from 1985 to 1987, and in June of 1988, he was appointed to the Virginia Board of Alcoholic Beverage Control as its chair; and
WHEREAS, Jay Cochran joined the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI in 1979 and served on the board of trustees for the society from 2003 to 2004; he was a past chair of the Richmond chapter, which was officially renamed the Jay Cochran, Jr. – Richmond Chapter on February 19, 2014, the first time any chapter had ever been renamed for a living person; and
WHEREAS, Jay Cochran continued his service to the law-enforcement profession, serving as executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police and chief executive officer of the Virginia Police Chiefs Foundation until 1996, then serving as the first executive director of the Virginia Public Safety Foundation, where he was the catalyst in creating and codifying the Commonwealth Medal of Valor Award; and
WHEREAS, Jay Cochran will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his wife of 67 years, Betty Amon Cochran; one brother, John Cochran; two daughters, Christie Lee Lowe and Claudia Ann Revella; two sons, Randall Linn Cochran and Jay Cochran III; and six grandchildren, Casandra Revella, Francesca Revella, Lindsey Cochran, Kyle Cochran, Grace Cochran, and Virginia Cochran, and their families; numerous other family members and friends; and his law-enforcement family; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of Virginia hereby note with great sadness the loss of Jay Cochran, Jr., a law-enforcement leader and public servant of tremendous stature; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Jay Cochran, Jr., as an expression of the Senate of Virginia’s respect for his memory.