Arif Alikhan is the Director of Constitutional Policing and Policy at the Los Angeles Police Department where he serves as the highest ranking civilian commander in the LAPD.
As the senior policy and legal advisor to the Chief of Police, Director Alikhan leads the development of LAPD’s policies and procedures, manages the Department’s legal affairs and risk management initiatives, administers internal auditing and compliance programs, and coordinates all local, state, and federal governmental and legislative affairs.
His diverse background provides the LAPD with a unique perspective to develop innovative policies and initiatives that embrace the Department’s philosophy of reducing crime through community partnerships and constitutional policing. He has led the Department’s efforts to develop new policies regarding the use of body-worn video cameras, immigration enforcement procedures, homelessness, uses of force, and other contemporary policing challenges.
Director Alikhan joined the LAPD in 2014 after serving in a number of senior law enforcement and homeland security positions with the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles World Airports.
Director Alikhan began his legal career as a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew in Los Angeles and then joined the white collar criminal defense group at the law firm of Irell & Manella. He subsequently joined the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles where he quickly promoted to become the first Chief of the Cyber Crime and Intellectual Property Section for the largest judicial district in the nation.
Director Alikhan was later recruited to Washington D.C. where he served as a senior advisor to two U.S. Attorneys General during the Bush Administration and worked closely with the private sector and local, federal, and international authorities to address the emerging global challenges of intellectual property theft and complex computer crimes.
After more than a decade as a federal prosecutor and senior policy advisor, Director Alikhan returned to Los Angeles to serve as the Deputy Mayor for Homeland Security and Public Safety where he oversaw the LAPD, Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles Emergency Management Department, and managed over $200 million in federal and state homeland security grant programs. He led the Mayor’s signature initiatives to reduce gang crime and promote youth development, enhance oversight of the Los Angeles Fire Department, hire 1,000 new LAPD officers, and negotiate the conclusion of the LAPD’s consent decree.
In 2009, Director Alikhan joined the Obama Administration as the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where he led a team of experts in developing domestic and international counterterrorism, emergency management, and transborder policy issues. He represented DHS on numerous National Security Council committees and led DHS’s efforts to develop a national countering violent extremism strategy.
Director Alikhan also served as the Deputy Executive Director for Homeland Security and Law Enforcement for Los Angeles World Airports which operates Los Angeles International and Van Nuys Airports for the City of Los Angeles. As the head of airport security and fire services, he led the LA World Airport Police with over 500 police officers and 700 civilian security staff tasked with protecting the City’s airports and its 70 million annual passengers.
Director Alikhan has an extensive academic and teaching background as a Distinguished Professor of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security at National Defense University in Washington, D.C. and as an adjunct faculty member at the law schools of the University of Southern California and the University of California, Irvine where has taught constitutional criminal procedure and constitutional policing. He is a frequent lecturer at major universities, government conferences, and law enforcement training programs on constitutional and community policing, use of force policies, counterterrorism, and homeland security.
Director Alikhan earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Ecology from the University of California at Irvine and a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles where he was the law review’s Chief Articles Editor. He is also a 2016 graduate of the Los Angeles Police Department ‘s Reserve Police Academy and is a certified advanced academy instructor.