Ashan M. Benedict Assistant Chief of Police for Standards & Training Operations
Assistant Chief for Standards & Training Operations Ashan M. Benedict joined the United States Capitol Police (USCP) on December 4, 2023. Assistant Chief Ashan Benedict came to the USCP with nearly 30 years of federal and local law enforcement and leadership experience. His first assignment in the Department was Assistant Chief for Protective and Intelligence Operations.
Assistant Chief Benedict joined the USCP after managing the day-to-day operations of one of the country's largest law enforcement agencies, Washington, DC's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), as well as serving as a Special Agent in Charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Before joining the Metropolitan Police Department as the Executive Assistant Chief, Assistant Chief Benedict served with ATF in major posts including New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore, as well as Washington, DC, where he served as the Special Agent in Charge. He also served as Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division. Assistant Chief Benedict was a Member of the Senior Executive Service (SES).
Assistant Chief Benedict 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, armed carjackings, gang-related racketeering murders and firearms trafficking. He was also a tactical operator on ATF's Special Response Team (SRT). Assistant Chief Benedict was involved in ATF's response during the September 11 terrorist attack, the Beltway Sniper investigation, ATF's response after Hurricane Katrina, the DC Navy Yard shooting, the San Bernardino mass shooting in 2015 and the mass mailing of pipe bombs in New York City in 2018. Assistant Chief Benedict was the on-scene incident commander for ATF's response to the riot near the White House in May/June 2020 and at the U.S. Capitol in 2021.
Assistant Chief Benedict is a New York City native and grew up in The Bronx and Yonkers. 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 and his wife have three children and live in Washington, DC.