Murphy Robinson III ’06 Is Still Curious

On an April morning in Denver, CEO and founder Murphy Robinson III ’06 is running a few minutes late: A call with Colorado police and government officials about a piece of legislation he helped author went long, as the bill is up for consideration by state lawmakers later that day.

Robinson’s company, SurePass, pioneered the nation’s first authority verification platform for law enforcement and official credentials, with the backing of leading venture investors and prominent business and civic leaders. The bill up for consideration would mandate that the identity technology in SurePass be adopted by every Colorado county to tackle the critical—but until now largely ignored—challenge of verifying official personnel at security checkpoints.

The morning phone conversation ran over time, in part, because just two days earlier, a gunman had forced his way past a checkpoint at a Washington, D.C., hotel and exchanged shots with security personnel to try to get close to Trump administration officials at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, an annual tradition celebrating press freedom. Questions about the security precautions in place for the event immediately rose to the top of the national news and sparked countless discussions in the security industry.

It was exactly the type of scenario that SurePass was designed for, according to Robinson. Individuals such as police officers and other authorized personnel often rely on outdated methods, such as plastic badges, for verification, leaving security protocols vulnerable to exploitation through forged or outdated physical credentials—ones that may not, in fact, prove actual authority. In an era of terrorist attacks and other unknowns, explains Robinson, SurePass ensures the authenticity of personnel credentials, enhancing security measures and mitigating the risk of unauthorized access or infiltration.

The idea for SurePass was “born out of my traveling through security checkpoints,” like those at airports, “and seeing that almost anyone could flash their badge and get through,” Robinson recounts. “I realized that we’re relying on some of the lowest-paid and least trained employees to make critical security decisions about whether someone is really acting in an official capacity.”

Years of experience helped lead Robinson to this eureka moment. 

A police officer while still an undergraduate at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, Robinson had started his pursuit of a career in public safety and security almost the day he graduated from Colorado Academy. 

“Even before I arrived at CA in high school, I had always had a really big interest in law enforcement and public service. But it was here that I really got to figure out why the world worked the way it did.”

CA’s mission statement, he adds, became “the mission statement for my life: Being curious, courageous, not ever taking someone else’s answer as gospel, and always asking, ‘Why do we do it this way?’ And if it’s not working, can we change it? By now I’ve done that with laws; I’ve done that with policies; I’ve done that with technology. There’s never been a time in my life when, if something isn’t working, I haven’t tried to fix it.”

Leaving the badge behind

Long before developing a fix for outmoded security models with SurePass, Robinson tried his hand at fixing another seemingly intractable challenge: city government. “As an officer in Cincinnati and then after a move back to Brighton, Colo., I had done all the things that you would want to do as a cop. I arrested a lot of people; I was a crime scene investigator—you name it. But I realized after a few years that I wasn’t effecting the kind of change in the community that I wanted to.”

Back home in Brighton, it took Robinson only a bit of Googling to find out that his police chief’s boss was City Manager Manuel Esquibel, and from there things moved quickly.

“I gave him a call, and I said, ‘Hello, sir, my name is Murphy Robinson. I’m one of your police officers. I want to become a city manager, and I was wondering if we could meet to talk about how I can do that.’”

With his chief’s blessing, Robinson got a meeting with Esquibel, and once a month for a year, the veteran city manager gave him an assignment—reading a book, researching policies—until he handed him one final piece of homework: earning his master’s degree in public administration. 

With degree in hand, Robinson recalls, Esquibel laid out a choice. “‘Either stay where you are and rise through the ranks as a police officer, or leave all that behind—leave your pension and everything else—and become an intern for me. Bet on yourself.’ I said, ‘Done,’” remembers Robinson, “and I left my badge behind.”

He proceeded to work in pretty much every Brighton city department, including animal control, waste water treatment, utilities, permitting, and many others. “I approached every new assignment with that curiosity I learned at CA. I was super intentional about being an extra set of hands for whoever needed my help. I’d say, ‘Give me the project that has been on your mind, that you have had no time to do, and I will learn how to get that done for you.’”

Robinson quickly became assistant city manager, and he was able to put together a list of changes and improvements that would eventually save the city more than $4 million. He was soon recruited by nearby Englewood to help manage its own financial crisis, and his work—including cutting costs by outsourcing the city’s fire-fighting capability while keeping Englewood firefighters employed—drew the attention of former Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who made Robinson part of his cabinet. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer for the city, and within a few years, he became Deputy Mayor and Executive Director of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver.

It was 2020, and this role turned out to be the most challenging chapter of his career, Robinson notes: Both the COVID-19 pandemic response and unrest after the killing of George Floyd became all-consuming concerns for city government, not only in Denver, but around the country. 

Managing through crisis

Once again, he called on those lessons from CA—curiosity, leadership, and a drive for clarity—to help his city find a way through crisis. 

“I saw selfless public safety folks—police and fire—all across the Metro Area leaning in to help their community in ways that we would never have expected they would have to. And when I took part in a press conference about the city’s response, I stood up for them and our community in the face of violent protests and vandalism.”

 

Robinson’s speech in front of thousands of Denver residents assembled in front of the State Capitol went viral in a matter of hours.

“As a Denver native, an Afro-Latino, first-generation American, father, and husband, let me assure you that I, too, have been angry. I, too, have shed tears; I, too, have lost sleep over the outrageous acts that led to this loss. And let me tell you, the history of policing, particularly in Black communities, has a dark past, one that was preceded by discriminatory policies that constantly disenfranchised impacted minorities. We are proud in Denver of the fundamental shifts in our system and the practices that we have implemented over the last decade—while acknowledging there’s always room to grow.…

“Now I want to talk to my fellow Millennials: I’m calling on you to help stop the violence. As our generation prepares to take over leading this nation, we cannot repeat the mistakes of the previous ones. Let us be the generation that comes together, that systematically moves the needle of bigotry, racism, and hatred. In order to do so, we must take a non-violent approach that includes partnership with civil activism. Free speech and the right to assemble are an essential part of our democracy and our society. They are protected by our Constitution and coveted by others around the world. I take absolutely no issue with your right to assemble. I have no desire to tell you what you should or should not say. 

“But where we part ways is the destroying of city facilities and businesses that our brothers and sisters built. Our businesses have already seen the impact and the hurt from the COVID-19 crisis. I urge you: Do not follow the lead of those who would hijack a moment of change with violence and rage.”

This speech, Robinson explains, arose from a simple question with curiosity at its heart: “How do we solve a citywide problem and lean into productive change—without throwing the baby out with the bathwater?” How could Denver elevate the voices of those seeking justice while still keeping the city safe?

Looking back on this moment today, he adds, he realizes it was one in which he got to see the real power in the values he carried with him from CA.

“I am optimistic,” he reflects. “I see people becoming more aware and making their voices a little louder about issues like policing. I think that’s the secret to democracy. And please quote me on this: I want to see more business leaders involved in public service, too.”

Robinson goes on, “I believe we must continue to cultivate the curiosity of all Americans, because what we don’t want to do as a country is go down so far down one road that we can’t put the genie back in the bottle.”

Finding his replacement

While Robinson’s deep concern with community safety never faltered, his willingness to absorb the emotional battering and physical danger of his position in Denver’s government—including death threats against him and his family—narrowed as he saw that his children were growing up almost without a father.

 

“One thing I always vowed was that as a dad, I would always be present. And I knew that if I was going to be intentional about that, I had to make some changes. I could always come back to public service; what I couldn’t do is replicate my kids’ childhood.”

So he turned towards entrepreneurship. ”I always knew I wanted to own my own company. You cannot build generational wealth as a public servant,” he observes.

Robinson proceeded to translate his knowledge of safety and security into a series of successful businesses. The first, SecaSecure, is still thriving today as an electronic security company that installs cameras, access control, and alarms in commercial buildings. Next, he created CLOQ, a security consulting firm focused on solving problems for universities, enterprise companies, and other organizations.

Today, Robinson is busy with SurePass, managing a startup-phase team of tech professionals and raising capital to accelerate the company’s growth.

“So many organizations today haven’t yet ‘woken up’ to the major vulnerability that SurePass solves for,” he explains. “Take the hotel where the weekend threat to Trump officials occurred, or think about stadiums and courthouses trying to ID all the people coming in the door.”

Simple visual checks don’t guarantee security any longer, Robinson notes. Just as a badge doesn’t confirm if an officer is currently authorized to act, a school visitor sticker doesn’t confirm if a parent has current legal custody; a contractor’s lanyard doesn’t guarantee that the worker belongs there on a given day.

“We provide confidence with authority verification in what we call ‘high-consequence’ environments,” he says.

Still, acknowledges Robinson, he’s always looking to the future and the next phase of his journey—and who he can help raise up along the way. “One day I may run for office,” he reveals, “but that will come at a time that will work for my family and my companies. Until then, I will be a huge supporter of all those who do have that capacity to serve.”

“Everywhere I go, I am always looking for my replacement,” he continues. “Whether that replacement’s 10 years off or tomorrow, I want to ignite curiosity in young people so they can take what I can teach them and then make it 10 times better.”

It was a CA grandparent and long-time mentor—Charles Gallagher, a Denver business leader, Xavier University trustee, and forebear of Charlie Gallagher Jr. ’08, Mary K St. John ’09, Michael Gallagher ’12, and Danny Gallagher ’15—who first proved the value of curiosity to a young Robinson. An advocate for the 2006 graduate from the beginning—he was the one who wrote Robinson’s police officer recommendation when he was just 19—Gallagher Sr. always repeated the same piece of career advice.

“Go in as though you know nothing,” recounts Robinson, “and then learn everything. No matter what title you have, no matter where you are in life, when you go in wanting to learn, you will be a major asset to the people you’re around. Approach every situation and everybody you meet with curiosity, and you will thrive in your career and in life.”