Loudoun Board Delays Decision On Police Department Referendum

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Loudoun County officials have put on hold consideration of a proposal that would allow residents of the county to vote in a referendum to shift the county's law enforcement structure to a police department away from an elected sheriff's office.

Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall (D) said she plans to pause efforts to possibly hold a referendum on creating a police department in the county. Randall announced Tuesday at a Finance Committee meeting that the board instead will take up the issue of conducting a study of a police department structure on July 21 at its final business meeting before the August break.

Despite the pause, a group called We Back Blue plans to hold a rally before the county board meeting on Tuesday to show support for Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman and his campaign against the creation of a police department. The group contends the board of supervisors wants to appoint a police chief to go along with "Loudoun's George Soros-financed Commonwealth's attorney."

On Wednesday, Randall said in a Facebook post that she had heard from between 250 and 300 residents about a proposed Nov. 21 ballot referendum for a Loudoun Police Department. The chair said the opinions of residents on whether to create a police department were even, but about 80 percent of the people who contacted her said they would prefer to have more information on the cost of a shift away from a sheriff's department system.

"When that number of people, on both sides of an issue speak, as an elected official, we should listen," Randall said.

Sheriff Chapman has strongly opposed proposals to create a Loudoun Police Department. His office released an in-house study this week that listed reasons why the office believes a police department would be bad for Loudoun County.

But Randall said on Facebook that "much, if not most" of the information put out by Chapman on the creation of a police department "was unfortunately, not accurate."

An elected sheriff, "by definition, is a politician first and a law enforcement officer second," Randall wrote in support of creating a police department.

"The position of sheriff is political. In Loudoun, we select our Chief Law Enforcement Officer in a partisan election every four years," she said. "I do not believe law enforcement should be a partisan job. In fact, I believe requiring law enforcement to engage in political fundraising is, quite honestly, beneath the dignity of the position. I do not believe we should ever know the political affiliation of the Chief Law Enforcement position in any jurisdiction."

Also, every four years, after an election, the Loudoun County Sheriff can, without a human resources review or stated reason, choose not to reinstate career deputies, Randall noted. "This equates to a termination," she said. "If a deputy’s employment is not renewed, that individual has no human resources or county grievance recourse. In short, they are out of a job with very little or no notice, and no ability for their case to be reviewed."

Under the proposal, a combined law enforcement structure of an elected sheriff and a police chief appointed by the Loudoun County administrator would not go into effect before Jan. 1, 2024, which is after the current term of Chapman.

The Loudoun County Sheriff's in-house study, released Tuesday, found that creating a police department in Loudoun would cost at least $20 million for personnel and equipment start-up costs. The study also found that creating a new police department would force the acquisition of new technical equipment and ongoing upkeep of about 46,000-square-feet of additional office space for another headquarters facility.

Chapman characterized the proposal for the creation of a police department, which would be similar to the departments in Prince William, Fairfax and Arlington counties, as a "power grab" by the board of supervisors.

“It is apparent that Chair Randall and her allies are embracing the ‘ready, fire, aim’ approach to local law enforcement and want the public to ignore the policy implications as well as the hard costs and risks of turning law enforcement over to an un-elected chief completely beholden to the BOS and county staff,” Chapman said.

In supporting Chapman's efforts, the We Black Blue group said Loudoun residents should not be deceived by the efforts to create a police department. "This is a power grab by Loudoun's liberal Board of Supervisors," the group said. "The lawlessness that you see in many of our cities around the country is just what they will bring right here to Loudoun."

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