Robert D. MacLean is stepping down as chief of the U.S. Park Police Department.
Sgt. Eduardo Delgado, spokesman for the park service, confirmed to WTOP that MacLean is leaving.
MacLean has been with the department for 28 years. He told his staff on Wednesday.
A memo to U.S. Department of the Interior employees sent Thursday morning announced MacLean’s selection as director of the department’s Office of Law Enforcement and Security.
According to the National Park Service website, MacLean has held a number of “leadership positions in both operational and administrative capacities, including assignments to Crime and Violence Task Forces, Media Relations, Internal Affairs, SWAT and Canine.”
MacLean also served as the commander of the department’s Homeland Security Division. He became the acting chief of the department Dec. 6, 2013.
MacLean’s department has been getting criticism for the shooting death of 25-year-old Bijan Ghaisar, of McLean, Virginia.
Ghaisar died after being shot multiple times by two U.S. Park Police officers in November 2017 during a traffic stop in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County. The shooting remains under investigation by the FBI.
