University of Texas Permian Basin
Hi my name is Matt Muehlbrad and I serve as the Assistant Chief with the University of Texas Permian Basin. I was born and raised in Odessa, Texas. I graduated from Permian High School in 1999 GO MOJO! I met my wife in high school and got married shortly after graduation. We have been married 22 years with 3 great kids. I began my law enforcement career as a jailer at the Ector County Sheriff’s Office which led to being offered a spot in the police academy. I promoted to patrol as soon as I graduated the academy and it didn’t take me long to know that this is what I was meant to be doing. After working patrol for a while, I was promoted to the Special Investigative Unit where I worked narcotics and was a member of the SWAT team while awaiting a K9 position to open. After a brief time in narcotics, I transitioned to K9 where I received my first dog Rocky. I had Rocky for several years before losing him suddenly to cancer, and then received Spike who we had until they retired him to our family at the end of his career. After 7 years in the Special Investigative Unit, I transferred to the Criminal Investigative Division. During my time in CID, I worked on a variety of cases including major crimes. During this time in my career, I also took over as SWAT commander. While in Criminal Investigations and looking at the idea of furthering my career as a leader within the department, I began to realize the importance of education which is something I never understood when I was younger. I decided to go back to school and earned my Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in Criminal Justice Administration through Tarleton State University. After completing my undergrad, I decided to continue and later graduated with a Masters in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University. While going back to school I returned to patrol being promoted to Sergeant. Besides K9, this was by far one of the most rewarding positions. As a first line supervisor, I really began to mold my leadership style. I learned a lot in this position about what type of leader I am and that I want to be. After my time as Patrol Sergeant I was promoted to Patrol Lieutenant. As Patrol Lieutenant, I continued the path of education in leadership where I attended LEMIT at Sam Houston State and graduated LCC class 89 in 2021. After my 20-year career with the Sheriff’s Office, I had the opportunity to join UT System Police. In February 2022, I accepted the Assistant Chief position with the University Texas Permian Basin where I hope to further my career and share my knowledge and experience. I am excited for this new journey and hope to bring new ideas.
