(Updated at 2:35 p.m.) Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved today (Tuesday) $4 million to begin implementation of police body worn cameras.
The Fairfax County Police Department is set to receive 1,210 body-worn cameras that would be phased in over three years with a five-year contract for equipment, licensing and storage.
Before the vote, Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity shared concerns about the fiscal impact of the proposal, including that the funding approval is happening outside of the budget cycle, Chairman Sharon Bulova said it’s necessary to have the funding before the budget decisions in May.
The $4.3 million approved by the board today comes from the Reserve for Ad-Hoc Police Practices Review Commission.
“This amount will cover the initial cost of equipment, infrastructure enhancements and will allow for the immediate recruitment and hiring of personnel to ensure a seamless implementation on or about May 1,” according to county documents.
Herrity also said that he has concerns about the funding coming from the reserve — a one-time fund — and that body worn cameras are getting prioritized over increases in police officers’ pay.
“This is going to set our public safety budget back by millions of dollars,” Herrity said, adding that he wants information on extra costs for the Public Defenders’ Office.
In response to Herrity’s concerns that the program is meant to address national issues with police, Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said that the program is not trying to address criticism of police outside of Fairfax County.
“The overwhelming support in the community for doing this is important. We know our community pretty well and we know the respect the community has for the Fairfax County Police Department,” Foust said. “We have the tech to do it, and we should move forward.”
After the vote, Braddock District Supervisor John Cook requested that the county executive work with the Public Defenders’ Office to determine an increase in the office’s budget that the board can consider in May.
Cook said that the body worn cameras will generate “significant legal work needed to review [the footage],” noting that most of the defense attorneys are from the Public Defenders’ Office.
The full implementation of the body worn cameras is expected to take three years. The cameras would come to the McLean District during the second year of the program.
“This is about transparency. This is about the community feeling confident in our police department,” Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay. “We know that they do.”
Image via FCPD
The number of stolen tires reported in the Tysons area has now reached two dozen this year.
Tysons Reporter has been keeping an eye on where wheels have been reported stolen — dubbing the thief(s) the “Tysons Tire Bandit(s).”
The 24 reports span from Merrifield and the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metro station area up to Tysons, according to the Fairfax County Police Department’s daily crime recaps. (Fairfax County’s weekday police recaps are not comprehensive lists of every incident and the addresses are approximate.)
Some of the areas had multiple reports, including:
- four reports in the 1500 block of Westbranch Drive
- three reports in the 7900 block of Jones Branch Drive
- two reports in the 9400 block of Lee Hwy
- two reports in the 1500 block of Lincoln Way
A few of the incidents also include stolen rims.
The robberies have mostly occurred in the residential areas of rapidly urbanizing Tysons and Merrifield.
FCPD recaps noted between one to five stolen tire reports per month this year. The most recent incident was noted in the Monday (Sept. 23) recap.
Langley High School delayed students from leaving this afternoon while Fairfax County police responded to a report of a “suspicious man” in a nearby yard.
Sgt. James Curry, a police spokesman, told Tysons Reporter that police received a call at 2:16 p.m. about a man in someone’s yard in the 900 block of Ridge Drive.
Curry said that the man ran away when police arrived and has not been found.
The incident was not related to the school and does not appear to pose any threat to the school, Curry said.
The school was secured — which is different from a lockdown — because of the increased police activity in the area, Curry said.
Principal Kimberly Greer said in a letter to families that the school was secured around 2:50 p.m. “At this time, students (and buses) have been released,” Greer wrote.
More from Greer:
This letter is to inform you of an incident that occurred today. At approximately 2:50 p.m. the school was notified that there was an incident in the surrounding neighborhood with police involement. At that time we went into “Secure the Building” status. This means that all exterior doors are locked and students are to remain inside. Staff reacted swifty and appropriately, and our students behaved in an exemplary manner. At no time was anyone on school property.
Upon advisement from the Fairfax County Police Department, we ae no longer in “Secure the Building” status. At this time, students (and buses) have been released.
Map via Google Maps
The Vienna Police Department wants people to beware fraudulent calls from people pretending to be Vienna police officers.
A man reported one such scam call last Friday, Sept. 13, around 1 p.m.
“A man who resides in Fairfax County came to the Vienna Police Station advising he was on the phone with someone claiming to be a Vienna police officer and they were attempting to defraud him of money,” according to a police report.
When a police officer tried to speak to the caller, but “the caller hung up when the officer identified himself,” police said. The phone number that the call came from was the Vienna Police Department’s non-emergency number.
Police told the man that the call was a scam and advised him to report it to the Fairfax County Police Department for the attempted fraud, according to the report.
“Spoofing telephone numbers is a common scam that is used in an attempt to defraud citizens out of money. Our department does not make calls in an attempt to collect money,” the police department said.
If anyone lost jewelry at Caboose Tavern (124 Church Street NE), Vienna police may know of its whereabouts.
“A member of the Vienna Optimists Club advised a citizen found a piece of jewelry and turned it over to them at the Caboose” on Saturday, Sept. 14, according to police.
Photo via Facebook
Fairfax County police are searching for the man suspected of flashing a woman in Tysons yesterday afternoon.
“A man exposed himself to a woman while sitting in his car in a parking lot,” police said. The incident occurred around noon Tuesday (Sept. 17) in the 8300 block of Leesburg Pike.
“He was described as a black man in his 30s. He was driving a gray Infiniti sedan,” police said.
Image via Google Maps
Fairfax County officials want to take a closer look at the costs linked to adding body worn cameras to the county’s police department.
After studies observing the impact of police officers wearing body cameras while on duty, several members on the Board of Supervisors came out in support of the new proposal. As body worn cameras get closer to receiving the board’s approval, two supervisors want more information to determine the fiscal impact of the project.
Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity kicked off the discussion of the body worn cameras at the Public Safety Committee meeting Tuesday (Sept. 17) by asking what the fiscal impact would be.
The program would cost about $6.2 million by fiscal year 2022, Deputy County Executive for Public Safety Dave Rohrer told the board.
“That includes the Commonwealth Department of Information Technology, the police officers, the cameras, the storage and equipment,” Rohrer said. “It’s an all-in number.”
Braddock District Supervisor John Cook said that if Board of Supervisors approves the action items on the body worn cameras at the meeting next Tuesday (Sept. 24), he will request a report on how it could affect the budget for the Public Defenders’ Office.
Cook noted that the presentation about the pilot program included information about costs for the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
The Vienna Police Department is looking for the three women who reportedly stole merchandise from a cosmetics store along Maple Avenue.
An employee at Sally Beauty (329 E. Maple Avenue) reported to the police that three women concealed multiple items of merchandise before fleeing the store, according to a police report.
The incident occurred shortly before 6 p.m. last Tuesday (Sept. 10).
In a separate incident, a Vienna resident in the 900 block of Frederick Street SW reported to the police that “someone intentionally damaged a tree she recently planted” between Friday, Sept. 6, and Saturday, Sept. 7, police said.
The police department also received nine recent reports from people who said their cars had been rummaged through.
Photo via Facebook
The Town of Vienna Police Department is seeking the public’s help to identify a suspect linked to dirt bike theft along Maple Avenue.
Police tweeted that they are looking for the “subject seen at the Shell gas station (545 W. Maple Avenue) attempting to put a stolen dirt bike into a possible silver 2002 Mercedes CLK320.”
The incident happened around 4 a.m. Wednesday (Sept. 11). Police said the dirt bike was reported stolen from Paris Court SW.
“The subject is a black male, mid 30s, 6’2, slender, short cut beard, bald,” police said. “He was last seen wearing a tan cap, light grey or white shirt and black jeans.”
Image via Google Maps
City of Falls Church police arrested a man for allegedly setting a marked sheriff’s vehicle on fire outside City Hall.
Falls Church police and the Arlington County Fire Department responded to a call for a vehicle fire around 6 a.m. yesterday (Monday).
“The fire was extinguished without injuries or damage to city buildings,” according to a Falls Church press release. The cruiser was totaled in the blaze, police said.
Police charged a 23-year-old man for arson near the scene of the fire. Police said “any additional charges are pending.”
The incident prompted an investigation by the Fire Marshall.
At a City Council meeting last night, City Manager Wyatt Shields said that “it was very startling… for employees who were coming to work this morning, they came by this burnt vehicle.”
While the police investigation is ongoing, Shields said, “We do not think there was any real rationale behind this arson. I think it was a random event.”
Shields said that the loss of the vehicle is covered by insurance.
A Merrifield-based hospice care service will pay millions to settle allegations that it submitted incorrect claims to Medicare.
Capital Caring has agreed to pay $3.1 million to “settle allegations that it caused the government to overpay the organization as a result of billings it submitted to the Medicare Program for hospice services,” according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Headquartered at 2900 Telestar Court, Capital Caring provides advanced home care and hospice services in the D.C. area.
More from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia:
The overpayments were the result of claims Capital Caring submitted to Medicare for hospice services for patients who the government alleged either did not meet the hospice eligibility guidelines for the Medicare Program, Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, or for whom the hospice clinical record information maintained by Capital Caring was insufficient to support Medicare hospice coverage.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia worked with the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General on the civil matter.
Photo by Joe Gratz/Flickr
