Charles “Andy” Penn is Acting Chief of the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) effective Sept. 5, taking over from Police Chief Murray “Jay” Farr, who retired after 30 years.
Penn has served as Deputy Chief of Police since July 2015. He is a 28-year veteran of the Arlington County Police Department, beginning his career as a patrol officer in 1992. Penn currently serves as the commander of the Operations Division, overseeing the daily operations of two Patrol Sections, Community Resource Section, Tactical Operations Section, Operation Support Section and the Special Operations Section.
Penn previously held an executive leadership assignment as commander of the Systems Management Division, which oversees the Human Resources Management Section, Support Management Section, Training Unit, Tactical Training Unit, Property and Evidence Unit, Procurement and the Fiscal Management Unit. He also has extensive investigative experience having previously held positions in the Auto Theft Unit, Homicide/Robbery Unit and the Internal Affairs Section.
Penn holds a bachelor’s degree from Radford University in Criminal Justice and a master’s degree in Security Studies (Homeland Security) from the Naval Postgraduate School. He has undertaken study in several educational programs, including the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP), as well as, the FBI’s National Academy. He is an Adjunct Professor at Marymount University’s Forensic and Legal Psychology graduate program.