Ashan M. Benedict served as the Executive Officer of the MPD responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the department. He was appointed in April 2021 by Chief Robert J. Contee III. He also served as the Interim Chief of Police from May – July 2023. He provided dedicated leadership and helped navigate the agency through a variety of challenges. In November 2023, Chief Benedict resigned from MPD.
Before joining the Metropolitan Police Department, Executive Assistant Chief Benedict served the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in several major posts of duty that include New York, Los Angeles and Baltimore, most recently serving as the Special Agent in Charge in the Washington, DC Field Division. He began his ATF career in 1998 as a special agent assigned to ATF’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force in Washington, DC. As a street agent, he investigated violent drug trafficking organizations, armed robberies of commercial businesses, armed carjackings, gang-related racketeering murders and firearms trafficking offenses. He was also a tactical operator on ATF’s Special Response Team (SRT).
Executive Assistant Chief Benedict was involved in ATF’s response and investigation of several notable events and incidents, including the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the Pentagon; the Beltway Sniper investigation; ATF’s response and support to New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Katrina; the Washington, DC Navy Yard active shooter; the San Bernardino, CA, mass shooting terrorist attack in December 2015 and the mass mailing of pipe bombs in New York City in October 2018. Benedict also was the on-scene Incident Commander for ATF’s deployment in response to the riots at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Executive Assistant Chief Benedict is of South Asian descent, the American-born son of Sri Lankan immigrants. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Fordham University and a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from Syracuse University, Maxwell School in Washington, DC. He is also a graduate of the Asian American Government Executive Network’s Senior Executive Service Development Program (SESDP). He and his wife have three children and reside in Washington, DC.