The George Washington University on Tuesday announced that James Tate has resigned his position as Chief of Police, and Captain Ian Greenlee has been named acting chief of the GW Police Department.
“I want to thank Chief Tate for his service to the university, and I am grateful that Acting Chief Greenlee has agreed to serve GW in this capacity,” said Baxter Goodly, vice president for safety and operations.
In announcing his resignation, Chief Tate said: “I have appreciated the chance to work at a prestigious institution with talented colleagues. I am grateful to GW’s leadership for their support in leading the department over the past four years.”
Tate joined GW in 2020. During his tenure, he implemented body-worn cameras for officers, increased GWPD visibility and outreach on campus and worked with colleagues to update GWPD’s mental health concern response protocols.
Tate also implemented student outreach efforts, particularly focused on engaging with first-year students at the beginning of each fall semester and fostering community throughout the academic year.
Tate introduced managing bias training, an eight-hour course conducted by the Department of Justice, an accomplishment of which he is particularly proud.
Greenlee, who joined GW in 2023, brings many years of experience in campus policing, having served on the police force at American University since 2006. At AU, he held progressively responsible roles as officer, corporal, sergeant, lieutenant and senior lieutenant.
Greenlee’s career has focused on developing positive relationships with a campus community and supervising and mentoring officers. In his roles, he has overseen shift operations, coordinated crime prevention efforts and police response to special events and acted as a liaison to the DC Metropolitan Police Department. As a supervisory officer at GW, Greenlee also has fulfilled all the university’s training and experience requirements for arming.
The university plans to launch a national search for a permanent police chief in the coming weeks.