Greene Heads To AG’s Office Police Chief To Lead Retail Crime Unit
After more than four years of leading the Lexington Police Department, Chief Angela Greene is departing at the end of the week for a new chapter: heading the Organized Retail Crime Unit at the Virginia attorney general’s office.
“It’s bittersweet,” Greene told The News-Gazette on Monday. “I’m thankful for what we’ve done here and having whatever legacy is left behind, but I’m also excited about the opportunity to make a bigger impact on a statewide level with Attorney General Jason Miyares and this new adventure.”
Organized retail crime is “a significant and growing concern in Virginia,” according to information on the attorney general’s office’s website. It involves efforts by groups of criminals to “illegally obtain retail merchandise, cash, confidential data and/or consumer information” with the intent usually being to use any money generated from these efforts to help fund other criminal enterprises, such as drug and human trafficking.
The National Retail Federation estimates that organized retail crime results in a loss of $30 billion in sales annually throughout the country due to stolen merchandise. In Virginia, the stolen merchandise is estimated to cause the loss of $1.3 billion annually, including more than $80 million in lost tax revenue. In 2023, a new section was added to the Virginia State Code defining organized retail crime and its components, listing it as a class three felony, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years.
As the director of the Organized Retail Crime Unit, Greene will be heading an effort by the attorney general’s office to “coordinate a statewide strategy to combat organized retail theft rings.”
“This will include me working with local law enforcement, prosecutors, retail partners and other community stakeholders to disrupt this criminal network,” Greene said.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Angela to the Office of the Attorney General,” Mike Costigan, senior director of programs and outreach at the attorney general’s office, said in a statement. “Organized retail crime is one of Attorney General Miyares’ top priorities, and Angela’s executive leadership in law enforcement will be a tremendous asset to us as we continue to identify and reduce crime across the commonwealth.”
“She has an amazing opportunity to work with the state of Virginia’s attorney general, and while I am sorry to lose her, this opportunity to serve the state is remarkable,” Lexington City Manager Tom Carroll told The News-Gazette in an email on Friday. “Chief Greene has capably led the Lexington Police Department for more than four years, and we are better for her leadership and vision.”
As of midday Tuesday, no announcement had been made about who will be serving as interim chief of the department following Greene’s departure. In Friday’s email, Carroll said he was “exploring several approaches to both the interim and recruitment process,” and that he wanted to “gather additional input from residents and stakeholders” before making any decisions.
Greene began her tenure in Lexington in May of 2021 having previously served as an officer in the Richmond Police Department and as the chief of police of the Portsmouth Police Department in her, at the time, 20-year-long law enforcement career.
During her time in Lexington, Greene made an effort to increase community engagement with the department through things like increased walking patrols and monthly community walks, which were designed to allow officers to “get out and meet citizens in a non-law enforcement capacity.” Greene also began summer camps which have grown over the past four years and was able to get grant funding for a school resource officer and a detective to focus on domestic and sexual assault cases.
“We’ve done, in those four years, a lot of great things,” she said. “And it’s teamwork. It wasn’t [just] me. I can’t do this all by myself, but it was the team. The officers have been great in taking on these new initiatives and seeing the vision and going forward with leadership, and I believe they’ll continue to build on those successes.”
One of the initiatives that Greene was unable to fully implement was the creation of a mounted patrol unit, which was discontinued last year after one of the two horses being trained for patrols was unable to continue due to health issues. Greene said that she still thinks a mounted unit would be a good idea, but it was “probably bad timing” that led to it not working out. Even so, she feels there were positive things that came out of the efforts to establish the unit.
“I met so many great community members, either because they loved horses or they love law enforcement, that wanted to get involved,” she said. “That’s what it’s about in law enforcement, meeting people where they’re at and listening to their desires and their wishes. And I think the mounted unit was an avenue that allowed me to meet a lot of individuals I would not have necessarily met … Even though it did not get off the ground, I think there were a lot of successes, and to show a partnership of so many community members coming together with the police department and raising tens of thousands of dollars for a vision that the police department wanted to put forward speaks volumes.”
As she prepares for the next chapter, Greene is looking back on her time in Lexington fondly.
“Lexington has been an invaluable experience [for] me, having the opportunity to lead this dedicated police department and collaborating with community members on various programs and just working together through any public safety challenges we might have,” she said.
“This has been, out of my almost 24 years of law enforcement experience, the most supportive community I have ever worked in, and it’s just been my true honor and privilege to have met so many great community members and work on so many good projects,” she said. “I know the legacy will last way beyond me and the transparency and the community trust will continue to build.”
