Colonel D.G. Harper Chief of Police

Colonel Harper began his career in law enforcement in 1964 with the Fairfax County Police Department and retired with 20 years of service at the rank of Major.  He became the Chief of Police in the Town of Vienna from 1984 to 1992 and has been the Chief of Police at the Harrisonburg Police Department since 1992.  He has worked as a consultant for the National Sheriff's Association and the U.S. State Department in training law enforcement personnel from the United States and many foreign countries in various law enforcement related subjects.
     Colonel Harper is a graduate from Sophia High School in West Virginia and American University in Washington D.C.  He has attended over 50 separate professional courses in police management disciplines over the past 30 years including Virginia Commonwealth University's Police Executive Development Course and Radford University's Command Level Law Enforcement Management Course.
     The Colonel has served on various boards including the Northern Virginia Highway Safety Commission and the Virginia Criminal Service Commission.  He is one of the founders and the first president of the National Capital Area Special Equipment and Tactics Association.  The association encourages and establishes standards and training for S.W.A.T. teams and negotiators. 
     Colonel Harper has an extensive background in Special Weapons and Tactics and has commanded over 250 hostage/barricade situations throughout his career.  He has been a guest lecturer for the FBI, CIA, and other law enforcement agencies and academies on response to hostage/barricade incidents, incident scene command, hostage negotiations and crowd management.