Windsor Police Chief Dan Riddle Retires July 1 After 25 Years of Law Enforcement Service
By Titus Mohler, Windsor Weekly
Chief Rodney “Dan” Riddle will be retiring effective Wednesday, July 1, from his role as leader of the Windsor Police Department (WPD) that he has served in since December 2013, and in his last full week of service as chief, he took some time to reflect on the past 12-and-a-half years, along with what led up to them.
After working for the U.S. Department of Defense Police and the Portsmouth Police Department, Riddle came to the WPD in May 2011 and worked in patrol, having been hired as a senior police officer by then-Chief Vic Reynolds. Riddle was promoted to the rank of first sergeant in June 2012 and began serving as the second-in-command of the department at that point.
“I became the Interim Chief in December of 2013 and served in that capacity until July 2015 when I was appointed as the permanent Chief of Police,” Riddle stated.
This was the first time in his tenure in law enforcement that he had served as a chief.
“And I never would have thought that I would end up in this position in my career,” he said.
When asked what he enjoyed most about his time as the Windsor Police Department’s chief, he said, “Working side by side with some of the finest men and women I have ever met in law enforcement; it has been an honor and privilege to lead them.”
Riddle did not have difficulty declaring what the single greatest highlight was from his WPD tenure.
“Hands down the Annual Toy Drive that we hold every year,” he said. “Being able to partner with Toys for Tots, Community Harvest Outreach and all the local businesses to ensure that all the kids in our community have an opportunity to enjoy a gift Christmas morning is by far the highlight of my time as a member of WPD.”
As for the greatest challenge of his time as the department’s leader, Riddle cited “the pace and rapidly changing law enforcement landscape over the past 10 years. Keeping up with changes in data collection, mandatory reporting, deploying new programs, law changes, criminal justice reform and ensuring that training and funding were available to keep pace with the changes. WPD routinely rose to the challenge and successfully navigated the challenges.”
The Windsor Police Department became the subject of national news in 2021 in connection with a 2020 traffic stop in which Caron Nazario, a Black National Guardsman, was held at gunpoint and pepper-sprayed.
As Windsor Weekly staff writer Stephen Faleski has previously reported, two WPD officers had pulled Nazario over for allegedly not having a rear license plate, though Nazario had a temporary New York plate displayed in his vehicle’s rear window. The officers said they did not see it and accused Nazario of eluding police when he drove roughly a mile down U.S. Route 460 to a BP gas station before stopping.
As Faleski reported, Nazario sued the officers — Joe Gutierrez, who was fired in April 2021, and Daniel Crocker.
Faleski reported that though viral videos of the traffic stop incident sparked accusations of racism, the January 2023 trial concluded with a Richmond jury awarding Nazario only $3,685 — well below the $1 million+ Nazario had sought — after finding Gutierrez liable for assault, but not battery, and Crocker liable only for having illegally removed a firearm from Nazario’s car.
Reflecting back on the Nazario matter, Riddle said his main takeaways from it included “the speed at which information moves in today’s age and how to manage public information, communication and messaging in the age of social media to ensure that factual information is provided.”
Riddle previously noted that the WPD applied to begin a self-assessment process in May 2023 in the effort to seek departmental accreditation.
“Over the next 10 months, the WPD accreditation team members focused on modifying and writing policy that met accreditation standards and then spent 16 months gathering proofs of compliance in preparation for the mock assessment and the initial assessment that occurred in July of 2025,” he said.
It was announced in September 2023 that Windsor had reached a written settlement with then-Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares to resolve a lawsuit alleging an “unlawful pattern” of conduct by the WPD.
The 11-page court order, which Judge H. Thomas Padrick signed on Sept. 7, 2023, required the WPD to obtain accreditation from the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission (VLEPSC), which Miyares described as the “gold standard in policing” in a news release.
In the June 2026 interview, Riddle said, “The decision to seek accreditation was made before the Nazario matter was ever settled between WPD and AG’s Office. While (the matter) did play a factor in the decision, (seeking accreditation) was primarily driven by the desire to improve the delivery of services to our citizens and that future grant funding would be impacted by accreditation.”
The chief addressed the biggest advances the WPD has experienced from the time he started as chief until now by highlighting the role of technology in police work and the leverage it brings as a force multiplier for smaller agencies.
“WPD has been fortunate to have received funding from multiple sources and partnerships that have allowed us to embrace technology and deploy it successfully,” he said. “WPD obtained an upgraded radio system to the current 800-mhz digital system that drastically improved public safety communication abilities within the county and enhanced regional interoperability.
“In addition, we have been able to partner with Axon for body-worn cameras and tasers, Flock for automated license plate readers, Lexipol for policy and accreditation support, and Central Square for our new (Computer-Aided Dispatch/Records Management System),” he said. “Technology has changed how law enforcement operates and improved public safety operations and more importantly improved outcomes for citizens, suspects and officers.”
Riddle noted that his effective-July 1 retirement is a retirement from law enforcement, and he does not have any plans to continue working in government service. He indicated that he will eventually seek employment in the private sector “where I might have an opportunity to leverage my law enforcement training and experience.”
But for now, he has duties and delights on the homefront in view.
“After 25 years of law enforcement service, I plan on just taking some time off to decompress and spend time with my family,” he said. “There is a long list of household projects that need to be completed. I have a granddaughter on the way, and there is plenty to do to get ready for the new addition to the family. Definitely going to play a few rounds of golf with my dad. I will at some point return to work in the private sector when the right opportunity comes along.”
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