"De-Escalation Can Work: Police Praised for Richmond Highway Barricade Response

HYBLA VALLEY, VA — Never before has Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis seen cigarettes delivered by robot to a person in crisis.

But that's what happened in late March when a woman in a mental health crisis barricaded herself in her car, shutting down Richmond Highway for more than 34 hours.

"That speaks to the commitment to de-escalation and doing what we had to do," said Davis.

On Tuesday, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors praised the law enforcement officers who contributed to the peaceful resolution of the standoff. Officers who responded to the days-long barricade were on hand to receive a resolution, presented by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck with Chairman Jeff McKay and Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk.

The barricade began Tuesday, March 28 and shut down Richmond Highway until early Thursday, March 30. The person involved in the standoff — Brittany Copelin, 29, of Charles County, Maryland — experienced a mental health crisis while armed with a gun, authorities said.

Copelin, who police say was tied to an alleged abduction of a woman from Laurel, Maryland, faces multiple charges in Laurel and in Fairfax County.

Police had noted the greatest danger during the barricade was Copelin to herself, since the woman who was abducted was no longer in the vehicle.

Supervisors praised police for the de-escalation strategies and patience used in the response.

"I know it truly takes a village. In this case it took a significant part of our not only our police resources, but so many others in the area," said Storck. "And that's what I think it's all about, is that we will move heaven and earth, we will assemble whatever it takes to protect lives and to do everything we can to ensure that we have a truly welcoming and supportive community."

Lusk, the board's public safety committee chair, said the response proves "how de-escalation can work and why it's so important."

"We got lots of calls people were complaining, asking me to reopen Richmond Highway asking me to do everything to resolve this quickly," said Lusk. "And I even said, 'we've got to give this the time it needs.'"

Chairman Jeff McKay, who went to the site multiple times during the barricade, called the response "remarkable."

"I hope that it does become a textbook for other police departments across the country and how to handle something like this so that we can get more outcomes like this across the country as we deal with the mental health crises that you all deal with on a daily basis," said McKay.

Along with thanking law enforcement, McKay also praised businesses who opened their doors for police to use during the barricade response.

Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross said Fairfax County Police's response differed from that of San Antonio Police who fatally shot a woman appearing to be in a mental health crisis.

"This would have been a perfect opportunity for de-escalation, because the woman was obviously having some mental health crisis, but they didn't do that," said Gross. "If that had happened in Fairfax County, we would have handled it the way you handled the Richmond Highway issue. It's just amazing to me that so many large police departments have not figured that out yet. There is a way to handle these kinds of situations, and at Fairfax County is mastering that."

In the resolution, Storck noted the barricade response drew responses from Fairfax County police officers with help from uniformed and civilian crisis response managers, negotiators and teams from other localities.

Mount Vernon District police officers had been the first on the scene and stayed involved throughout the barricade, but other responding law enforcement included the Mount Vernon District station patrol, Major Crimes Bureau detectives, operations support, SWAT team, the crisis negotiations unit, the bomb squad, traffic division, motor squad, safety officers, the helicopter division and unmanned aircraft unit.

Other assistance was provided by the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, the Alexandria Police Department's SWAT hostage negotiations unit, Virginia State Police SWAT crisis negotiations unit, George Mason University's unmanned aircraft unit and Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications.

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity acknowledged the response of the law enforcement and their responses to stressful incidents every day. Herrity said the county's new Public Safety Wellness Center helps public safety personnel take care of their mental health, and another center is being planned.

"We need to continue to do everything we can to support you from compensation to wellness, to the training that Supervisor Gross kind of referenced, because training is what makes a difference," said Herrity.

The police chief said the recognition "validates" the efforts, training, mindsets and hearts of responding police officers.

"Police officers, deputy sheriffs, troopers, fire and rescue personnel, we deal with people at their worst moments, and we deal with people in crisis and that, as we all know, is increasingly so with behavioral and mental health crisis," said Davis. "So we're never going to reach a moment of perfection, but we're certainly on a journey to achieve a goal of policing in a way that our community expects us to police under very constant trying and challenging circumstances."

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• Standoff On Richmond Highway Ends, Woman In Custody: Police
• Richmond Highway Standoff Involved Abduction Suspect: Police