Loudoun Sheriff Questions Need For County Police Department

LEESBURG, VA — After newly elected Board of Supervisors Chairman Phyllis Randall made known her plans to introduce the possibility of adding a county police department to take over law enforcement, Sheriff Mike Chapman responded last week, questioning the motivation, necessity, and fiscal responsibility of creating an additional law enforcement agency in the county.

WUSA9 reported Randall's idea, and Chapman followed by issuing a statement last Thursday. Chapman pointed to his radio interview, and emphasized that the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has a nearly 90 percent public approval rating, according to a recent survey, and the agency saw the rate of serious crime drop 32 percent since Chapman was first elected in 2012.

During the interview, Chapman noted the differences between a sheriff’s office and a police department, saying the sheriff’s office provides “a good check and balance” within the county government. If a police department was created, a police chief — a non-elected position — would be appointed by the county administrator.

"Citizens need to know exactly what this is all about…taking their right away to select their chief law enforcement officer and basically having an entire bureaucracy between them and the chief law enforcement officer," Chapman said in the statement.

Randall told WUSA that in the past, deputies and other staff who did not support the sheriff sometimes did not have their contracts renewed. She said many came to her and other supervisors asking for security in their positions.

"That comes with a police chief," Randall said.

Chapman told WUSA in a separate interview the shift would make things worse for constituents.

"I answer directly to them, and that’s an important thing —to answer directly to the people that you serve," Chapman said. "To take that option away from the people that want to elect you, it’s insulting the public. It’s telling them that you’re too stupid to make that decision."

You can hear Chapman's entire radio interview here.