Alexandria Police Department just filled three big positions

The Alexandria Police Department just announced three major new hires.

APD announced Monday that it will welcome new Assistant Police Chiefs Raul Pedroso and Tina Laguna, as well as Communications Manager Tracy Walker.

“We are expanding APD leadership at a necessary time when our community is looking to us for more information sharing and innovative approaches to crime reduction,” Hayes said. “We look forward to the incoming expertise they will bring to further bolster our collective commitment to public safety in Alexandria.”

The assistant chief positions have been vacant since Police Chief Don Hayes was formally promoted in April 2022. The new hirings restructure the department to have three assistant police chiefs, as opposed to the two assistant chiefs (one of whom was a civilian) under previous APD Chief Michael L. Brown.

Pedroso will be the department’s assistant chief and commander of the Criminal Investigation Bureau. In that role, he will lead APD criminal investigations, crime scene investigations and Special Investigations. Pedroso was previously a major in the Coral Gables Police Department in Florida. He attended the FBI National Academy and has a master’s of science degree in criminal justice from Florida International University and a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Florida, according to his LinkedIn page.

Laguna will take charge of the APD Administrative and Technology Bureau, as well as “areas related to accreditation, training and recruitment, along with fleet, facility, and records management,” according to APD. She is currently the assistant chief overseeing investigative services at the Manassas City Police Department, and is the first Black woman to achieve the rank. She has a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in Criminology, Law, and Society from George Mason University, according to MCPD.

Walker was the public affairs director for the Richmond Police Department since 2021. She has been in marketing and public affairs for decades and has a bachelor of the arts degree from the University of Texas San Antonio, according to her LinkedIn page.

Pedroso and Laguna will formally join the department on Oct. 23 and Walker started on Monday, according to APD.