Deputy Chief Eddie Reyes

Communications Interoperability

Chief Eddie Reyes has over 26 years of law enforcement service. He retired from the Alexandria (Virginia) Police Department after 25 years of service, rising through the ranks from entry-level police officer to deputy chief in 2009. In January 2017, he joined the Police Foundation – an international policing think tank focusing on science and innovation for the law enforcement discipline – as a Senior Law Enforcement Project Manager. Prior to joining the Police Foundation, Eddie retired from the Amtrak Police Department after serving with them since February 2016. During his time with the Amtrak Police Department, he commanded all field operations and criminal investigations in the Mid-Atlantic Division, which includes all states between Pennsylvania and Florida.

In February 2018, he starts as director of Public Safety Communications (911 Center) in Prince William County, Virginia. He is also chair of the IACP Communications and Technology Committee and represents the IACP on SAFECOM and NPSTC.

During his time at the Alexandria Police Department, he was assigned to the CommTech Program (formerly the AGILE Program) for three years as a fellow. CommTech is a program of the US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. When interoperability was barely recognized at the national level as a critical public safety concern, well before the terrible incidents on September 11th and the Sniper incident that gripped the National Capital Region, NIJ and the AGILE Program laid a critical foundation for policy development, standards, and technology research that is still universally recognized and praised today. He also managed and oversaw public safety radio interoperability operations for the City of Alexandria and continues to be a key player in the National Capital Region on communications, interoperability and data sharing. Before being assigned to AGILE / CommTech, Captain Reyes commanded the Emergency Communications Section of the Alexandria Police Department (APD) for three years.

Locally, Deputy Chief Reyes chaired the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Police Technology Subcommittee. This committee focuses on regional technology issues impacting law enforcement and it reports to the regions’ police chiefs. During his tenure, and in collaboration with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), this subcommittee focused on a regional law enforcement data sharing system that included the regions’ nineteen municipalities and the NCIS.

At the state level, he chaired the VA State Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC). This committee coordinates interoperability issues statewide through end user collaboration and reports to the Governor through the Office of Commonwealth Preparedness. Focusing on training and standards for public safety communications has been his priority while serving on this committee, including a statewide standardized radio protocol, also known as common language protocol. He has been instrumental in assisting public safety agencies across the country transition from coded radio protocol to a common language protocol. At the national level, he is the immediate past chair of the Law Enforcement Information Management (LEIM) Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). Deputy Chief Reyes is also an active participant and voting member of the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) and the SAFECOM Executive Committee, representing the International Association of Chiefs of Police on each. He is also an active participant in the IACP’s Communications and Technology Committee.

Deputy Chief Reyes is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, 227th Session in Quantico, VA.

VA Governor Tim Kaine has appointed him to the Virginia Latino Advisory Board and the Commission on Immigration.

With more than 26 years of law enforcement experience, Deputy Chief Reyes has achieved subject matter expert status around the country in public safety communications and information technology, E-911 telephony, CAD, RMS, mobile data, land mobile radio, interoperability and regional data sharing.

Deputy Chief Reyes is a native of New Mexico. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from New Mexico State University and is presently working on his Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Administration of Justice at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.

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Full list of Deputy Chief Eddie Reyes results

What does the next 50 years hold for 911?
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February 16, 2018, marks the 50th anniversary of 9-1-1. Let’s take a look at what the future holds for our nation’s emergency number.
A phased approach to improve radio communications
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Few arguments against using plain language and common terminology are defensible anymore
What's new in law enforcement technology: Part 2
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Part 2 of a 2-part series Editor’s note: In Part 1, Police1 columnist Capt. Eddie Reyes shared a debrief on some of the new technologies featured at the recent International Association of Police C...
What's new in law enforcement technology: Part 1
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Part 1 of a 2-part series Read part 2 I have just completed the ultimate excursion for public safety information technology (IT), and the message I received was crystal clear – technology is drivin...
Public safety interoperability is good...
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Effective communication with the public is priceless By Capt. Eddie Reyes Sponsored by Cisco Systems For the last several years, much attention has been focused on the need for public safety to com...
The TICP and validation exercises are over. Now what?
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By Capt. Eddie Reyes Sponsored by Cisco Systems Shortly after the worst terrorist attack on United States soil in 2001, the Federal government began to build a foundation whose final mission would ...
Interoperability is more than just voice...
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...it’s data sharing, too By Capt. Eddie Reyes Sponsored by Cisco Systems The terrorist attacks of September 11th revealed the life-and-death importance of sharing criminal justice information bet...
Keeping the City of Angels safe: An inside look at the L.A. Regional Tactical Communications System
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By Capt. Eddie Reyes Sponsored by Cisco Systems In my last column I highlighted the South Carolina State Interoperability Project, commonly known as the “Palmetto 800 Trunked Radio Network and I re...
Ahead of the communications curve: The South Carolina State Interoperability Project
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By Capt. Eddie Reyes Sponsored by Cisco Systems Hopefully by now I have established a better understanding of public safety communications and interoperability through my previous articles. I thoug...
Keeping critical police communications fast, clear & protected
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By Capt. Eddie Reyes Sponsored by Cisco Systems Have you ever just paused for a moment to think about what happens to your transmission after you push to talk (PTT) your radio microphone? If you st...
Gateways — the good, the bad and the ugly
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By Capt. Eddie ReyesSponsored by Cisco Systems Last month I mentioned the word "gateways" but did not really elaborate. I am sure some of you asked "What exactly is a gateway?" Well I am glad you a...
So you want to start off with a portable radio cache?
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By Capt. Eddie Reyes Sponsored by Cisco Systems Some public safety leaders believe that the easiest way to be prepared for the next major event in their municipality or region is to have a cache of...
Common language is the key to achieving better interoperability
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By Capt. Eddie Reyes Sponsored by Cisco Systems Last month I mentioned that one of three basic interoperability solutions that costs nothing or very little in order to achieve better public safety ...
Basic public safety communications and interoperability
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By Capt. Eddie Reyes Sponsored by Cisco Systems I am honored that Police1.com and Cisco Systems have chosen me to contribute monthly columns focused on law enforcement communications technology. Ne...