Dumfries names new police chief

By: Aileen Streng | Inside NoVA
Published: October 13, 2011

Dumfries now has a permanent police chief - Robert Forker.

The Dumfries Town Council voted unanimously this week to name Forker to the post that he has held in an interim role for the past two months.

When former town manager Kim Alexander left her job in August, then Dumfries police Chief Dan Taber was named interim town manager and Forker, then Dumfries police administrative manager, took over as interim chief.

With the council’s vote on Forker, the reshuffling has ended since Taber was named to the permanent town manager job last month.

“I liked the direction the police department was heading under Chief [Ray] Colgan and then under Chief Taber. I just felt it was in the best interest of everyone to keep that continuity going forward,” Forker said.

Forker retired as a captain with the Prince William County Police Department in 2006 after 25 years with the department. Before joining the county force, Forker was a police officer with the Metropolitan Washington Police Department.

Forker joined the Dumfries Police Department in March 2010 to help guide the department out of the controversy surrounding misdeeds by some of its officers.

It was around the same time that Colgan came aboard as acting chief after longtime Dumfries Chief Calvin Johnson retired. A few other officers either resigned or were fired.

Taber described Forker as “a well-qualified, experienced chief of police who will continue the efforts of moving the Dumfries Police Department forward.”

Taber said he was very pleased Forker decided to take the position.

“I’ve known him for decades. I know the quality of work and his capabilities,” Taber said.

“While I was chief of police, we were able to make some pretty substantial, positive changes in the department. And I use the term ‘we’ because he was at the table with me every step of the way,” Taber said. “It was the two of us acting in concert with each other, having ideas about the future.

“This was one of the reasons why I am very confident that he is going to continue to change the face of the Dumfries Police Department,” Taber said.

Forker’s annual salary with a two-year contract will be $85,000.

Staff writer Aileen M. Streng can be reached at 703-530-3907.