Prince William County Police Department

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Colonel Peter Newsham is the Chief of Police and serves as the commanding officer of the Prince William County Police Department. Chief Newsham is responsible for the planning and direction of all Department activities, guiding our members in providing the highest quality of professional police service to our community, and is the final authority on all matters of policy, operations, and discipline.

The mission of the Prince William County Police Department is to effectively and impartially enforce the law while serving and protecting our community. The dedicated members of this Department accomplish our mission through integrity, honesty, and equality in the delivery of all police services. Through our accomplishments in embodying our values in both our professional and personal lives, we build cooperation and strengthen trust within our community

We are committed to a shared responsibility of accountability, transparency, and respect.

BIOGRAPHY

Chief Newsham was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and grew up in Weymouth, Massachusetts. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the College of Holy Cross, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law. Chief Newsham is currently a member in good standing of the Maryland and District of Columbia Bar Associations. He has attended numerous police executive trainings and seminars and was actively involved in the Major Cities Chief’s Association, the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Police Executive Research Forum. Additionally, he has attended the Harvard University’s Public Safety Summit, the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) training on Law and Society, the ADL’s National Counter-Terrorism Seminar in Israel, and is a graduate of the FBI’s National Executive Institute.

In 1989, Chief Newsham joined the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., where he served in several operational assignments before being named Chief of Police in 2016. Chief Newsham retired from the Metropolitan Police Department in January of 2021 after 31 years of service.

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors announced Chief Newsham as the new Police Chief for Prince William County in November 2020 following a nationwide search. Newsham was sworn in as Chief of Police on February 1, 2021.