Fairfax County To Review 9-1-1 System, Rethink Police Response

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to review the county's 9-1-1 dispatch and response systems. The aim is to enhance Diversion First strategies so that unarmed medical, human services, and mental health professionals are dispatched in response to calls where mental and behavioral health issues are involved.

The board matter was proposed by Supervisors Rodney Lusk (Lee) and Walter Alcorn (Hunter Mill).

“In Fairfax County, and across the nation, we are asking our law enforcement professionals to do far too much,” Lusk said, who chairs the Board's Public Safety Committee. “This board matter is an important step in our ongoing effort improve how we respond to 9-1-1 calls, and to make our community safer.”

County staff will study programs that have proved successful in other jurisdictions, such as the CAHOOTS model used in Eugene, Oregon.

According to a county release, only 40 percent of Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) officers have received crisis intervention training (CIT). The goal of this review is to reduce the number of FCPD officers responding to 9-1-1 calls that do not involve violence or a threat of violence.

“Fairfax County could not be under better leadership to take on the next step of public safety reforms than under Supervisor Rodney Lusk,” Alcorn said, in a county release. “I look forward to working with him to update the old model of always sending armed officers to every crisis. Through meaningful discussions with the community we will better align our emergency response system with our community needs.”

Tuesday's vote is the latest effort by the Board of Supervisors to reassess how FCPD does its job in in the aftermath of nationwide protests calling for greater police accountability and an end to police violence. At its June 9 meeting, the Board voted to prioritize funding for full implementation of FCPD's body-work camera program.

This is not the only effort seeking to remove FCPD officers from roles some say would better be served by those with more appropriate training. Last week, Fairfax County NAACP and State Del. Kaye Kory (D) sent a letter to Gov. Ralph Northam asking him to reallocate state funding away from supporting school resource officers (SROs) and putting it toward more school counselors.

At a recent meeting in Gum Springs, Lusk said he was open to the idea of removing SROs from county schools, although the School Board would have to make the decision first.

Also see ...

Fairfax Supervisors Prioritize Funding For Police Worn Cameras

Fairfax NAACP Asks Governor To Stop Funding Police In Schools