UPDATE: Police Chief Earl Cook is Guest Speaker Monday at DRBA Lunch

The Del Ray Business Association lunch with Police Chief Earl Cook has been rescheduled for Monday, March 24.

It's sure to be a packed house for Monday's Del Ray Business Association luncheon, with Alexandria Police Chief Earl L. Cook as the guest speaker.

Cook has been working with the FBI and other local jurisdictions investigating three high-profile and possibly linked homicides in North Ridge, Rosemont and Del Ray. Alexandria police officers were in Wheeling, W. Va., recently, according to NBC-4, where Ashburn resident Charles Severance was arrested on a weapons violation. Severance is scheduled for an extradition hearing Monday.

Cook is a 30-year veteran of the Alexandria Police Department and the first African-American in the city’s 260-year history to serve as the chief of Police. Cook, who is also a native Alexandrian, oversees a 400-member police department. He replaced former Chief of Police David P. Baker in 2009; Baker resigned after receiving a DUI.

Cook has spent his entire career as a member of the Alexandria Police Department. He began as a police academy recruit in January 1979. After graduating from the academy, he worked in patrol and criminal investigations until 1989. 

Over the next six years, he was promoted several times, advancing to sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and assistant chief. As assistant chief, he managed the criminal investigations bureau, and was named deputy chief in that role three years later. In 2006, he rose to the position of Deputy Executive Chief, serving as second in command; acting for the Police Chief in his absence; and providing significant direction on the police department’s policy and budget.

Cook was born and raised in the City of Alexandria. He grew up on Princess Street and attended Lyles-Crouch Elementary School, Parker-Gray Middle School and George Washington High School through 10th grade. He transferred to T.C. Williams High School, after the school was integrated, and became a member of the historic Titans football team. 

After graduating from T. C. Williams in 1973, he attended Duke University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history and education. He currently resides in Alexandria and has three children and two grandchildren.