Herndon Police Chief Installed As VACP President

HERNDON, VA — Chief Maggie DeBoard of the Herndon Police Department was installed last week as president of Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police & Foundation, according to a post on the department's Facebook page. DeBoard is the organization's first female president.

"We are so proud of her and the work she does, not just for HPD and the Herndon community, but for officers and communities all over Virginia," Dana Schrad, executive director of VACP, said, in the post.

DeBoard began her law enforcement career in 1986 with the Fairfax County Police Department. She served for there 25 years, before retiring as deputy chief. In March 2012, she was appointed Herndon's chief of police.

VACP's mission is to promote professional development of management and executive level personnel within Virginia's law enforcement agencies. It also works to encourage cooperation among law enforcement agencies to prevent and detect crime, apprehend those responsible for committing crime, and to promote high standards among law enforcement personnel across the state.

As VACP's 1st vice president, DeBoard participated in a Sept. 10 press conference along with representatives of the Virginia Sheriff's Association, the Virginia State Police Association, and the Virginia Fraternal Order of Police to address police reform legislation currently under consideration by the Virginia General Assembly. They discussed a number of bill they believe would be detrimental to public safety in Virginia.

“It has been extremely disappointing to see most of these legislative proposals developed with little or no input from Virginia law enforcement,” DeBoard said, during the press conference. “We provided a detail document of proposals to the Governor and General Assembly in June and have reached out to legislators throughout this special session. Only a handful of legislators really worked with us, but an overwhelming number had little interest in hearing our concerns.”