Chief Robert J. Tracy has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience with New York Police Department, Chicago Police Department, and the Wilmington Department of Police.  He has held top executive law enforcement leadership positions in both New York City and in the City of Chicago. Since April 14, 2017, he has served as the Chief of Police for the City of Wilmington, Delaware.

Chief Tracy built a distinguished record of achievement and advancement through his positions with the New York Police Department. Chief Tracy was the Commander of a newly created Firearms and Suppression Division, responsible for the coordination of tasks across several units. He has also served as the Commander of the Firearms Investigation Unit, working with the Organized Crime Investigation Division and ATF/NYPD Joint Firearms Task Force. Chief Tracy has led the Violent Felony Squad, the NYPD/U.S. Marshal Regional Task Force, and supervised the Manhattan Warrant Squad.

In Chicago, Chief Tracy held the position as the principal Crime Control Strategist. In this capacity, Chief Tracy instituted various strategies that greatly affected the crime statistics. Some of the tools that he developed, implemented and maintained included the Comp Stat process, the Chicago Police Crime Information Center (CPIC), which consists of worldwide terror/threat real-time intelligence and long-term intelligence gathering, and the Gang Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS), resulting in a significant decrease in gang related violent crime. Additionally, he instituted the Two Degrees of Association violent offender hot list, Custom Notification Program, and Link Analysis for tracking crime. During his time with the Chicago Police Department, his strategies resulted in the lowest murder rate in 50 years, a 37% reduction in overall crime during a 5-year period, and the lowest overall crime rate since 1972, for the city of Chicago, Illinois.

As the Chief of Police for the Wilmington Department of Police, Chief Tracy continued the course with his strategies. He has created and instituted the CompStat process along with developing and streamlining the department’s methods for Intelligence Based Policing. Chief Tracy has also implemented the Group Violence Reduction Strategy with guidance from David Kennedy from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Since his arrival in Wilmington, the city has experienced a 60% reduction in shootings, a 31% reduction in murders and an overall 13% reduction in crime.

Chief Tracy has also served in the private sector, as Vice President of Security Services for Summit Security Services on Long Island and Vice President/Global Crisis Response Manager in the Office of Business Continuity for CitiGroup in New York City.

Chief Tracy holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Marist College and a Bachelor of Arts in History from SUNY, Empire State College, and has received professional training in various topics. He is currently a member of the Delaware Police Chiefs’ Association, Kiwanis Club of Wilmington, Delaware, and Downtown Visions Board of Directors, as well as numerous other groups and boards.

He has been the recipient of many distinguished awards, including Pi Alpha Alpha National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration; Police Foundation Dale Hummerdinger Award; Numerous Excellent Police Duty Awards; Meritorious Police Duty, and Unit Citations.  Chief Tracy was born in the Bronx, New York City, NY, is married, and has five children.  He currently resides in Wilmington, Delaware.