Politics & Government

Gavin Tapped as New Falls Church Police Chief

New police chief served as deputy chief for the last five years.

Major Mary Gavin will be the next leader of the Falls Church City Police Department with Chief Harry Reitze officially retiring last week.

Gavin, who has served as deputy chief since 2007, will officially take over Monday.

“It has been a privilege to serve as deputy chief for five years under the guidance of Col. Harry W. Reitze,” Gavin said in a written statement. “I look forward to continuing the strong traditions and culture of the department and working with ‘The Little City's’ community as the chief of police."

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With more than 25 years of experience, Gavin has a lot of leadership experience under her belt. Gavin was with the Arlington County Police Department for 21 years, serving as vice narcotics commander, Operations District Commander for the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor, lieutenant of the Criminal Investigations Auto Squad and School Resources Supervisor. Gavin also created the first Youth Police Academy in Arlington County to foster ties between police and the community.

Wyatt Shields, city manager in Falls Church, said Gavin has earned the respect of the department and the community.

Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

With memberships with the City of Falls Church Alliance for Youth, Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Association of National Ethic Trainers and Police Executive Leadership Alumni Association, Gavin played a role in Arlington's 9/11 response.

She established staffing command for police operations, coordinating initial response from nearby county agencies, and managing the prolonged mutual aid requests for 28 agencies throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

“She lives and breathes the highest standards of law enforcement and is the ideal person to lead our Police Department forward,” Shields said.


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