Earl “Torch” Morris has been involved with local, state, and federal law enforcement and security for more than 30 years and now works as the director of campus Security for BYU–Hawaii.
His wife, Darlene, said, “He lives up to his name ‘Torch.’ His light burns brightly in many aspects of his life. He’s a good husband, a good father, and a good grandfather. He’s just an all-around good person. He’s set out to do good in the world and that’s all he’s ever done.”
Despite his countless awards and accolades in law enforcement, Morris said, “I’m most proud of my family. My wife and I have been married for 36 years, and at the end of the day, family is all that really matters.”
Born Jan. 5, 1958 to Joan and Lawrence Morris, Torch was given the name Earl Morris after a deceased grandfather, but his family looked at his fiery red hair and decided Torch was a more fitting name, he said.
Morris met Darlene at a gas station two weeks after returning home from serving for two years in the Spain Barcelona Mission.
In their 36 years of marriage, they have raised four children, five grandchildren, and have traveled to more than 80 different countries over the course of Morris’ career, he said.
Morris first knew he wanted to go into law enforcement when he was 8 years old. He said he grew up in a less than ideal environment where interactions with law enforcement were common.
“They were always the people who came in and saved the day… [They] were like a beacon of light at a time when things that were happening in life seemed a little dark, so I decided at that point that I wanted to be one of them,” Morris said of police officers.
As soon as he finished his mission, Morris joined the local police department in Ogden, Utah, where he worked for about six years as a patrol officer, responding to typical criminal reports, family fights, drunk drivers, and going after warrant arrests.
According to his wife, during the six years Morris served as a patrol officer, he was earning his bachelor’s degree in political science, while raising three young children and serving as a bishop in their ward.
By the end of his time at the Ogden Police Department, Morris had reached the police rank of corporal and transferred to the State of Utah Department of Public Safety, serving as a teacher in the police academy. Morris worked as a drill instructor where he would take new recruits through their three months of training.
Morris said, “I think I was a pretty nice guy in that job. I got intense at times and expected a lot out of them but was a pretty nice guy. I would run with them at 6 a.m. every morning. I’d be with them throughout the day, and I’d even put them to bed.”
He spent three years as a drill instructor until he was promoted to lieutenant and was moved into an investigative role in internal affairs.
There, he investigated the misconduct of law enforcement officers and other cases of corruption within the police force.
“Of all the jobs I’ve had in the 35 years of law enforcement, that was the worst. There’s nothing worse than investigating your fellow officers: [no one] is going to win in that situation,” said Morris.
During that same period of time, Morris was drafted into the state Special Operations Unit, or what some call a SWAT team, he said.
He spent five years serving as a commander in his team, performing high-risk felony arrests and executive protection. The high profile individuals he was tasked to keep safe included the governor of Utah and other heads of state. At the same time, Morris was also obtaining a master’s degree in economics and human resource management.
“Back then, it wasn’t a popular thing to do, and I remember a lot of people asking me why, but it was because I just wanted to be educated,” said Morris.
After earning his degree, the position for the director of the State of Utah forensics labs opened up.
Only applicants with some form of graduate degree could apply, due to the department’s regulations. “I was the only lieutenant on the list who had a master’s degree. I think I was qualified in other ways too that helped, but ultimately it was because I had a master’s degree that got me the job,” said Morris. “I spent four good years with the labs, and helped get them all accredited. It was a fun assignment that I enjoyed a lot.”
After working in the labs, Morris was promoted to lieutenant colonel and made the director of The Division of Investigation and Law Enforcement Services for the State of Utah. His new position put him over the state Bureau of Investigation, the crime labs, and the communications centers.
After two years, Morris was assigned to work in the governor’s office, working as the Director of Emergency Services Division. At the same time, he was made a member of the Olympics Public Safety Command, a council of 22 people from around the state who had been asked to ensure the public’s safety during the 2002 Winter Olympics, which took place in the Salt Lake City area.
Morris said, “We spent four years training and preparing for the Olympics. Part of our research included going to Australia for the 2000 Summer Olympics to observe what they did and what we could incorporate and improve.”
In 2000, Morris was promoted to colonel of the Department of Public Safety, where he oversaw all the highway patrolmen, criminal investigation, the police academy, and anything that had to do with law enforcement.
As colonel, Morris was directly responsible for how the state law enforcement would be used to ensure security during the Olympics.
Leading up to the Olympics, Morris did a lot of work with the Secret Service. “They would always ask me what they could do to pay us back for all the work we did, and I would always say, ‘You don’t owe me anything, but I would like about five minutes with President Bush,’” Morris said.
“I was always just kidding, but on the morning of the Olympics, they called me and said, ‘Hey, President Bush said he’d meet with you this afternoon at the University of Utah after he finishes speaking with the athletes.’ So I went and got another haircut, went up to [the university] and sure enough, after his speech, he came around the corner and told me he understood I wanted to meet with him.”
After what he described as a fun conversation, Colonel Morris asked if he could give President Bush his hat.
The President accepted and a few months after the Olympics, he contacted Morris asking if he would send his full uniform to be displayed with the hat at President Bush’s Presidential Library in Texas.
In 2002, Morris was hired on to the Department of Homeland Security as it was first opening up and was placed in charge of 45,000 employees, every airport in the United States and several key airports around the world, covering 452 airports in total.
In this position, Morris traveled the world ensuring all his airports were operating safely and instated a layered-based security system that is now used globally by the TSA.
With the start of the Obama Administration, Morris left the DHS and moved to Miami, Fla., to work with a company called Sekura, which is the Latin word for security. Sekura is an international company that consults with foreign governments on how they can improve national security and deal with everything from drug trade to human trafficking.
While with Sekura, Morris worked as a managing director over Latin America, working with the presidents and defense ministries in Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Aruba.
Morris said he really enjoyed his time with Sekura, but his wife didn’t like how he was regularly away from home and how many of his activities were dangerous.
Morris stayed with Sekura until coming to BYUH in March 2014. He said Darlene found the listing for his current position online and after a little convincing, Morris was able to land an interview for the job.
“I had to talk the school into interviewing me. They were concerned about the salary, but when we came here, I had pretty much done everything I wanted to do from a career standpoint. The decision was really more of just wanting to contribute,” Morris said.
Sifa Talakai, the shift supervisor for the BYUH Security Department, said, “Torch is the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back. I remember a time when he saw some Polynesian kids playing rugby in shoes being held together with duct tape. After they finished their game, he took them all to Sports Authority to buy them all new shoes with his own money. That’s the kind of guy he is.”
Once he finishes his work here, Morris said he hopes he and his wife can live out their summers in Idaho and their winters in Hawaii.