Major Hajredin Zenelaj began his career with APD in 2000, patrolling the streets of Zone 6 after the academy in 2001.  During his time assigned to Zone 6 he was the beat officer for the Edgewood neighborhood and was assigned to the Zone 6 Larceny Unit where he worked on a team dedicated to combatting theft, weapons, and narcotics-related crimes throughout the Zone, and on to Day watch as the Edgewood neighborhood beat officer.

In 2009, Major Zenelaj was promoted to the rank of sergeant and was assigned to Zone 3 where he supervised patrol officers on evening watch and reestablished the administrative sergeant’s office for the Zone. While in this role the crime analysis unit, zone fleet management, and other various responsibilities were fulfilled at the direction of the Zone Commander.

In 2013, Major Zenelaj was promoted to Lieutenant and remained in Zone 3 where he was the day watch commander and on to the Crime Suppression Team Commander. As the commander of the Crime Suppression Team, Zenelaj led a proactive group of officers focused on street-level narcotics, theft-related crimes, violent crime response, and special event (Braves) mitigation.

In 2015 Major Zenelaj was transferred to the Office of Professional Standards where he commanded the Internal Affairs Unit, Corruption/ Integrity Unit, and Officer Involved Shooting Team. During his time there, he oversaw citizen and internal complaint investigations, complex use of force and officer-involved shooting investigations as well as intricate integrity corruption investigations.

Major Zenelaj was appointed to the rank of Captain in 2020 and was assigned to Zone 6 as the Assistant Zone Commander, where he focused on day-to-day operations of the zone including community collaboration to solve problems, crime-focused deployment of resources, and personnel and equipment matters.

Major Zenelaj was reassigned to the Criminal Investigation Division, Major Crime Section as the Assistant Commander in 2021. Here Zenelaj assisted in the day-to-day operations of the department's Homicide, Aggravated Assault, Robbery, Special Victims, and Domestic Violence units.

Major Zenelaj was appointed to the rank of Major in 2023 and assigned to the Field Operations Division as the Executive Officer. In this role, he assists the Deputy Chief of the Division with day-to-day operations, preparing plans for the deployment of Zone resources, and maintaining and executing internal divisional matters to support the FOD Zone Commanders as needs arise.

Major Zenelaj is first generation American born and raised in New York, a son of Albanian immigrants (1968) who later became naturalized United States Citizens. Major Zenelaj holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice (Supervision and Law Enforcement Administration) from Herzing University. Major Zenelaj is a certified Force Science Analyst (2024). Major Zenelaj and his wife Patricia have been married since 2020, and enjoy traveling, spending time on the beach, and playing with their dogs.