New APD chief outlines 100-day review, evidence-based policing and wellness focus as crime falls in early 2025

Alexandria Police Department Chief Tarek Maguire told the Alexandria City Council on April 8 that the department’s 100-day review has yielded changes in deployment, a weekly crime-review process and early signs of crime reductions in 2025.

"We are doing the work every single day," Chief Maguire said, and summarized early results: a reported 25% reduction in overall crime for the first quarter of 2025 compared with the same period last year, with violent crime down about 43%, property crime down about 23% and nuisance crimes down about 36%.

Nut graf: Maguire presented a framework to build a five-year public safety plan that uses evidence-based policing, data analysis and community co-production. He also emphasized officer wellness, youth mentoring and stronger liaison work with schools as part of a broader effort to sustain reductions and improve public confidence.

What the chief presented - Evidence and technology: Maguire credited technology such as license-plate readers for investigative leads and listed outcomes in 2024, including arrests and recovery of stolen vehicles. He noted that new state limits on retention of license-plate reader data (House Bill 2724, cited in the meeting) require policies restricting retention to investigatory needs.

- Crime trends and targeted response: The APD has begun weekly crime-review meetings with midlevel managers and started a 60-day focused plan that isolates six micro-areas for concentrated deployments. Maguire said those precision deployments, combined with focused prosecution, are producing early improvements.

- Officer wellness and workforce: Maguire said employees told him work-life balance, internal communications and wellness support need attention. "The healthier that our officers are, the more, better served that they are when they come to work," he said and described plans for an internal wellness group and possible pilots for shift changes.

- Schools and youth: Maguire described outreach such as a pilot mentoring program at George Washington Middle School and said school resource officers should build relationships rather than pursue punitive responses for issues such as truancy.

Public questions and context Council members welcomed the update and asked about officer wellness programs, coordination with transportation and other city departments on roadway safety, responses to late-night street racing, hate-crime reporting and school safety. Maguire said the department is finalizing a policy on reporting hate incidents and is working to integrate other city departments into weekly crime- and traffic-review sessions.

Authorities mentioned - House Bill 2724 (statute) — cited by the chief for limits on license-plate-reader data retention and investigatory use.

Ending: Maguire said the APD will publish the 100-day plan and partner with George Mason University’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy to develop metrics for a five-year plan; councilmembers requested further quarterly updates and more localized public briefings.

Speakers - Tarek Maguire, Chief of Police, Alexandria Police Department (first referenced 01:07:06) - Cynthia Lum, George Mason University, Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy (present as research partner; first referenced 01:08:20)

Proper names and organizations - Alexandria Police Department (APD) - George Mason University, Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy - House Bill 2724 (state legislation referenced by chief)

Searchable tags: ["APD","public_safety","evidence-based policing","license_plate_readers","officer_wellness","schools"]