George W. Gast was appointed as the fourth Chief of Police for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police Department on March 1, 2010. Gast began his law enforcement career in 1982 as a Patrol Officer for the Willoughby (Ohio) Police Department. In 1984 Gast entered on duty with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a Special Agent assigned to the Waterbury Connecticut Resident Agency, New Haven Division. In 1986, Gast was selected from the ranks of the FBI to become one of fifty Special Agents assigned to the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT). The HRT is a full time national level tactical team prepared to deploy to any location throughout the world to conduct a successful rescue of United States citizens who may be held illegally by domestic criminals or international terrorists. In 1990 Gast was transferred to the Buffalo NY Office of the FBI where he served as the SWAT Team Leader, Principal Firearms Instructor, and was tasked with investigating organized crime, gangs, narcotics violations, bank robberies, and crimes against children among other federal investigations. In 1997 Gast was named a Supervisory Special Agent in the Buffalo NY FBI Field Office. In this capacity Gast was responsible for the supervision of the Violent Crime Major Offender Squad, the Organized Crime/Drug Squad and the Buffalo Violent Crime Career Criminal Task Force. Gast also served as an FBI certified undercover agent and functioned in numerous undercover operations throughout the United States. In November 2004, Gast retired from the FBI to accept a position as the Assistant Federal Security Director for Law Enforcement for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Gast resides in Buffalo, New York.
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