For more than 14 years, the Fairfax County Police Department has offered information about calls for service using a web-based mapping system.
The latest platform — which recently took on a new name after CrimeReports.com merged with Motorola — is called CityProtect.
Although the platform now has a different name following the merger, FCPD Sgt. Tara Gerhard says the features are the same. The department’s internal reporting system connects with the website to automatically publish an interactive map.
The service is free, and users can sign up to receive alerts. Users can also filter the data based on the type of incident and the date.
“CityProtect provides a convenient, web-based platform which allows us to continue to be transparent with our community by sharing local police-related information,” Gerhard said.
Incidents like domestic violence, traffic-related incidents, and homicides are not captured by the platform.
FCPD also recently launched a new data dashboard, which provides public information about arrests, citations, warnings and department training procedures and other policies.
Image via CityProtect
The Vienna Police Department plans to join several other local law enforcement agencies in forming a Northern Virginia Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) that will investigate shootings, in-custody deaths, and other situations where a police officer could face criminal charges.
The Vienna Town Council voted unanimously last night (Monday) to approve a memorandum of understanding that outlines the responsibilities, organizational structure, and basic procedures that the CIRT will follow.
Police chiefs in the region came together to develop the CIRT as a tool to enable departments to share resources and to establish a more independent process for investigating incidents where an officer inflicts death or serious injury.
“We don’t even have that capability to do that ourselves right now,” Vienna Police Chief Jim Morris said regarding the concurrent criminal and administrative investigations that are required after a use-of-force incident. “…This would solve that problem for us. It would also solve the problem of making sure you have independent, unbiased investigations.”
Under the CIRT MOU, which will take effect on Dec. 15, each agency will appoint a detective and a supervisor to serve on the team for two-year terms. The team will be governed by a board of directors that consists of the heads of the participating departments.
The team can be activated by a police chief when a critical incident occurs in their jurisdiction. Team members from the department under investigation would not participate in that criminal investigation, though they could act as a liaison officer.
Incidents that could trigger CIRT’s involvement include intentional and accidental shootings, in-custody deaths, police officer suicides, crashes where a vehicle is used as deadly force, and any action by a law enforcement officer during the performance of their duties that results in a death or life-threatening injury.
Vienna Police Chief Jim Morris emphasized that the CIRT is not meant to fill the same role as a citizen review board, which allows members of the public to provide input and evaluate police policies and procedures.
Instead, the CIRT will be responsible for conducting interviews, gathering evidence, and other aspects of a criminal investigation so that the case can be turned over to a prosecutor, who then decides whether to bring charges against the officers involved in the incident.
Morris says Vienna currently doesn’t have any formal written policy dictating how its police department would handle a criminal investigation in these situations. If the town opted out of CIRT, it would need to develop an arrangement with the Fairfax County Police Department so that there is a process in place if a critical incident occurs in Vienna.
“In this day and age especially, we need something in writing for these investigations,” Morris said.
Including the Town of Vienna, 11 Northern Virginia agencies have agreed to participate in the CIRT: Read More
The woman who died from injuries sustained in a two-vehicle crash on Leesburg Pike on Sunday (Dec. 6) was Holly Kuga, a 72-year-old resident of Great Falls, the Fairfax County Police Department reported this afternoon (Tuesday).
According to Fairfax County police, the fatal crash occurred around 11 a.m. at the intersection of Leesburg Pike and Towlston Road in Vienna, when Kuga attempted to turn left from southbound Towlston onto Leesburg Pike.
The driver of a 2017 GMC Sierra who was traveling west on Leesburg crashed into Kuga’s 2012 Honda Accord as she was going through the intersection.
Kuga was transported to a hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
“Detectives are continuing to investigate whether speed, alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash,” the FCPD said. “Charges are pending further investigation.”
Updated at 9:30 a.m. on 12/7/2020 — An adult woman involved in yesterday’s vehicle crash on Leesburg Pike died in the hospital, Fairfax County police reported.
Leesburg Pike reopened around 1:50 p.m. yesterday (Sunday). The crash remains under investigation.
Earlier: Leesburg Pike is currently closed in both directions around Towlston Road in Vienna due to a crash involving two vehicles.
One person has been taken to the hospital with serious injuries, according to the Fairfax County Police Department, which is investigating the incident.
“Please use an alternate route,” police said Sunday morning.
The crash involving two vehicles remains under investigation. One person was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Leesburg Pike remains closed in both directions. Please continue to avoid the area. https://t.co/ogylYbzb9K
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) December 6, 2020
Mail-stealing mischief is once again afoot in the Town of Vienna.
Vienna police warned today (Friday) that U.S. Post Office collection boxes on the corner of Church Street and Lawyers Road have been the targets of several break-ins this year.
The most recent incident occurred overnight between 3 a.m. on Nov. 22 and 5 p.m. on Nov. 23, when a resident reported that a check she had deposited in the mailbox at that intersection had been stolen, forged, and cashed.
“If you used these mailboxes during that time, please ensure that any checks, banknotes, or other important mail reached its intended destination,” the Vienna Police Department said in its crime summary for the week of Nov. 25 to Dec. 3.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is responsible for investigating all mail theft and tampering incidents, which can be reported to the U.S. Postal Service’s law enforcement arm through their website at uspis.gov/report.
Vienna police forward mail theft reports to the USPIS and support their investigations, but they advise anyone who sees suspicious activity at the collection boxes to contact the town police department to get an immediate response.
With the mailbox thieves apparently still at large, people with mail to deliver should drop it in the collection boxes inside the post office (200 Lawyers Road) instead, the VPD says.
The police report includes three other incidents involving issues with mailed checks that don’t appear to be part of the spree of postal box break-ins.
One resident reported that a check she mailed was stolen, forged, and cashed sometime between Sept. 1 and Nov. 23.
Another said a check she was supposed to get in the mail never arrived. The incident is dated between Nov. 3 and Nov. 10. Police advised the woman to file a report with the U.S. Postal Service.
Finally, there was a grand larceny incident between 9 p.m. on Nov. 30 and 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 1:
A resident placed outgoing mail in her mailbox that included three checks that she was sending to various creditors with her bills. The next day she observed shredded paper in the gutter that she recognized as the remnants of the envelopes she had placed in the mailbox.
Image via Google Maps
Updated at 6:30 p.m. — Blake Lane has reopened. The person who was injured in the crash is a bicyclist, and they remain hospitalized. The incident is under investigation by Fairfax County police detectives.
Earlier — Blake Lane is currently closed between Hibbard Street and Bushman Drive in Oakton due to a vehicle crash that occurred this afternoon.
Fairfax County police reported the accident just after 3:30 p.m. today (Thursday). One person has been transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Police are asking people to avoid the area, and travel delays should be expected.
Blake Lane is now open. Detectives from our Crash Reconstruction Unit continue to investigate. The bicyclist remains hospitalized. #FCPD https://t.co/P2gyh3QUk5
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) December 3, 2020
The Fairfax County Police Department is investigating two different armed robberies that took place in Tysons last week.
The first took place in the 8300 block of Greensboro Drive at 3:39 p.m. on Nov. 14. The victim was approached by a man with a knife who demanded money. The man “forcibly took a wallet from the victim before walking away from the area,” the FCPD reported in its weekly recap on Nov. 20.
The victim in that incident suffered injuries, but they were not life-threatening.
The second reported incident occurred at 2:19 a.m. on Nov. 19 in the 8600 block of Westwood Center Drive.
According to Fairfax County police, two men armed with guns forced their way into a hotel room occupied by three victims. The men assaulted one of the victims and took cash and personal property before walking away from the area.
The assaulted victim was taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, police say.
A man is now facing charges for unlawfully filming people at the Nordstrom in Tysons Corner, Fairfax County police announced this morning (Friday).
The Fairfax County Police Department says it first learned about possible unlawful filming at the store after a janitor reported finding a concealed video camera inside a bathroom on Oct. 24.
A woman then reported on Nov. 7 that she had been illegally filmed while in a dressing room, prompting the FCPD’s Tysons Urban Team to launch an investigation.
Officers arrested a man identified as Gerson A. Rosales Miranda of Woodbridge on Nov. 14 after Nordstrom alerted police that an unidentified woman who investigators had linked to the two reported incidents had returned to the store.
Officers searched the area and found Rosales Miranda “disguised as a woman.” Major crimes bureau detectives confirmed that he was responsible for the Nov. 7 incident, according to the department.
Rosales Miranda has been charged with five counts of unlawful filming with additional charges pending the outcome of the continuing police investigation. He was given a $2,500 bond.
“The investigation is ongoing and we will provide updates regarding charges and victims at a later time,” the FCPD public affairs bureau said when asked for more details about the number of incidents involved in the case.
Check out our video sharing details surrounding a recent arrest involving several unlawful filming incidents at Tysons Corner Mall in the McLean District. #FCPD #FCPDOnScene pic.twitter.com/BextGrZLx1
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) November 20, 2020
This is not the first time that unlawful filming has been reported at Tysons Corner Center.
A case involving over 100 videos allegedly taken in store dressing rooms at Tysons Corner Center, Fair Oaks Mall, Springfield Town Center, and Fair Lakes Promenade in December 2018 ended with Fairfax County police charging an Alexandria resident with unlawful videotaping and other crimes in January 2019.
The FCPD also charged a man from Maryland with unlawful filming and trespassing on Dec. 14, 2019 after he was seen recording two women at Tysons Corner Center.
A Tysons Corner Center spokesperson says the mall has no comment on the current case, noting that the FCPD is leading the effort.
The FCPD has officers assigned to Tysons Corner, Fair Oaks Mall, and Springfield Town Center for anyone who needs assistance or sees “anything suspicious while out shopping this holiday season,” the public affairs bureau says.
Photo via FCPD
The Fairfax County Police Department is seeking a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice for additional non-ballistic riot helmets with riot face shields.
With the unanimous approval of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at a Tuesday meeting, FCPD will apply for $114,017 in funding through the Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) in order to purchase 370 helmets and face shields.
Currently, FCPD has 120 riot helmets which are primarily used by its Civil Disturbance Unit (CDU). JAG grants are used to provide states and units of local government to support law enforcement equipment, crime prevention programs, technological improvements, and other resources.
In a staff memo, Deputy County Executive David Rohrer and FCPD Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. noted that the purpose of the grant is to replace some aged equipment, boost office safety, and “increase the capability of the police department to respond to incidents of civil unrest within Fairfax County.”
“Protective equipment is not required for every situation CDU handles, but must be available when needed to protect officers,” they wrote.
Jeff McKay, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, clarified that the riot gear is not military-grade and no county dollars will be used for the effort.
“It is for the protection of those officers should something be needed but obviously these are personal protective devices, not military-grade equipment, that could be deployed in the event of civil unrest, which we’ve been blessed not to have here in Fairfax County,” McKay said at the Tuesday meeting.
Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, who supported the grant application, also sought additional clarification on the purpose of more riot gear.
“We’re not exactly anticipating a dramatic upsurge in civil unrest are we? I wouldn’t think we are,” Alcorn said, adding that the board “reinforces the right to peaceful protest.”
“We’re not going to down a different road with approval of this,” Alcorn said.
Photo via FCPD
The City of Falls Church’s Use of Force Review Committee has created a survey to gauge public perception of and experiences with the city’s police department and sheriff’s office. The survey will be open until Friday, Dec. 4 at 5 p.m.
According to a press release from the city, the survey aims to provide anecdotes to help the UFR Committee inform their work and provide recommendations to the City Council based on responses.
The survey results will be available on the UFR Committee’s website once evaluated.
The Falls Church City Council established the UFR Committee in June amid nationwide protests of police brutality prompted by George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minn.
The committee is part of the city council’s commitment to the Reimagining Policing Pledge, which urges localities to review use-of-force policies, engage the community, report findings to the community, reform the use of force policies, and seek community feedback.
The committee is made up of seven community members, five City employees, and one Falls Church City Public Schools employee.
The National Institute of Justice says the use of force by law enforcement officers becomes necessary and is permitted under specific circumstances, such as in self-defense or in defense of another individual or group.
However, there is no universal definition of force. For instance, the release states that the International Association of Chiefs of Police has defined force as “the amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject.”
A “National Consensus Policy and Discussion Paper on Use of Force” that 11 different law enforcement leadership and labor organizations, including the IACP, published in 2017 and updated this year states:
Officers shall use only the force that is objectively reasonable to effectively bring an incident under control, while protecting the safety of the officer and others. Officers shall use force only when no reasonably effective alternative appears to exist and shall use only the level of force which a reasonably prudent officer would use under the same or similar circumstances.
The Falls Church City Police Department’s use-of-force policy says “force may be used to the extent reasonably necessary in light of the circumstances confronting the officer and deadly force shall not be employed except as a last resort in any situation in which such force is justified.”
The Fairfax County Police Department defines force as a “physical strike or instrumental contact with an individual, or any significant physical contact that restricts an individual’s movement,” excluding the act of escorting or handcuffing a person who is showing little or no resistance.
Under General Order 540, the FCPD says that force should only be used “to the extent it is objectively reasonable to defend oneself or another, to control an individual during an investigative or mental detention, or to lawfully effect an arrest.”
Falls Church City police are responsible for investigating crimes and public safety-related calls, while the City of Falls Church Sheriff’s Office handles court security, prisoner transport, and civil and criminal processes, such as evictions and seizures. Deputies also assist with traffic enforcement, emergency response, and security for city events like parades and festivals.
