Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer announced Thursday evening that Christopher McGaffin will succeed the retiring assistant chief.

McGaffin, currently one of the department’s four deputy chiefs, was tapped for the post at the conclusion of an internal selection process in which all the deputies were considered.

Assistant Chief James Rohan had announced earlier this month that he was leaving the Capitol Police after 30 years of service to become director of security for The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. He starts his new job Nov. 27.

McGaffin, who has been with the department for 33 years, will officially take over the No. 2 spot at a commissioning ceremony Friday in the Russell Senate Office Building.

“How fortunate the Capitol community is to have a deep bench,” Gainer said in a release. “A valiant defender of freedom moves to the next phase of his life, and a ready and able centurion steps in.”

McGaffin joined the Capitol Police in 1972, as a traffic control and security patrol officer in the Uniformed Services Bureau. He was promoted to deputy chief commanding that division (now known as the Administrative Services Bureau) in 1998. In 2003 he took over as deputy chief of the Protective Services Bureau.

During his years on the force, McGaffin worked in the department’s Training, Patrol, Criminal Investigations and Capitol divisions. He has also worked as a fellow with the International Association of Chiefs of Police.