Arlington County Police Department

The Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency servicing the 238,643 residents of the 26 square miles (67 km2) of jurisdiction within Arlington County, Virginia. It is the primary law enforcement agency in the county for all levels of law enforcement, although the many federal reservations, enclaves and special jurisdictions in the county often maintain their own law enforcement agencies, which often collaborate with the County Police on many of their larger issues.

Arlington County Police Department
Badge of an Arlington County Police Department officer
Badge of an Arlington County Police Department officer
Seal of the Arlington County Police Department
Seal of the Arlington County Police Department
Common nameArlington County P.D.
AbbreviationACPD
Agency overview
FormedOctober 1, 1963[1]
Preceding agency
  • Arlington County Division of Police (February 1940 – October 1963)[1]
Employees465
Annual budget$58 million
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionArlington, Virginia, USA
Map of Arlington County Police Department's jurisdiction
Size26 square miles (67 km2)
Population238,643
Legal jurisdictionArlington County
Governing bodyCounty of Arlington
Constituting instrument
  • Yes
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersArlington County, Virginia
Police officers300
Civilians104
Agency executive
Website
Official Website

History

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The ACPD was created on February 1, 1940, as the Arlington County Division of Police with Harry Woodyard as the first Chief of Police.[3][1] A few years later, the first ACPD auxiliary force was created.[1]

In 1960, Arlington County Police arrested people for violating Virginia's segregation and anti-miscegenation laws.[4]

On October 1, 1963, after a departmental reorganization, the agency assumed its present name.[1]

In September 2001, the Arlington County P.D. responded to the Pentagon after terrorists attacked it during the September 11 attacks, as the building is located in the county.[5]

Since the establishment of the Arlington County Police Department, 7 officers have died in the line of duty,[6] the most recent in 2016 as a result of an illness caused by the September 11 attacks of 2001.[7]

In June 2020, Arlington County withdrew its personnel from the District of Columbia after Arlington County Police Department officers were involved in an incident in which protesters were forcefully cleared from Lafayette Park.[8][9][10] An Arlington County Police Department captain was later named in a federal lawsuit related to the incident.[11]

In September 2020, Charles "Andy" Penn became Acting Chief of Police following the retirement of former Chief of Police Murray Jay Farr. On June 4, 2021, Penn was appointed to be the permanent Chief of Police by Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz.[2][12][13] Farr had served as Chief of Police since 2015.[14][15]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Arlington County Police Department (1998). "Arlington's Police Department: The History". Arlington County Police Department. Virginia: Arlington County. Archived from the original on December 9, 2000. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Charles Penn Executive Bio". Arlington County government. 2021-06-04. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  3. ^ "Arlington County Police Department". Police.
  4. ^ "Arrested for Arlington Sit-In: 1960".
  5. ^ AFIP, U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Louis Briscese, Forensic Photography, Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner (11 September 2001). "English: An Arlington County Police car, along with EMS equipment in the foreground at the Pentagon in September 2001" – via Wikimedia Commons.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Arlington County Police Department, VA". The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP). 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  7. ^ "Corporal Harvey Snook, III". The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP). 2016.
  8. ^ Barakat, Matthew (June 2, 2020). "Virginia county pulls officers from Washington, D.C., after Trump photo-op at St. John's Church". Associated Press. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  9. ^ "County Leaders Defend ACPD Officers Who Were Recalled from D.C. Protests". ARLnow. June 3, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  10. ^ "Media Alert: Arlington Withdraws Police from District of Columbia". arlingtonva.us. 2020-06-01. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  11. ^ Moore, Jack (September 2, 2020). "Federal lawsuit over clearing of Lafayette Square names DC, Park Police officers". WTOP. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  12. ^ "Acting Police Chief Andy Penn Tapped for Permanent Role After Search". Arlington Now. 2021-06-04. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
  13. ^ "Charles Penn". Arlington County government. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  14. ^ "Arlington's Chief of Police will Retire in September after 30 Years with ACPD". Arlington County government. 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  15. ^ "Donnellan Names Jay Farr Chief of Police – Newsroom". Arlington County government. 2015-05-14. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
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