FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Residents wondering why police officers are gathering in their neighborhood or why a helicopter is circling overhead can now turn to three new online dashboards providing information about Fairfax County police activity.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis unveiled the dashboards Friday during a news briefing at the county's public safety headquarters, describing the new technology as part of the department's effort to provide greater transparency after encrypting its police radio communications earlier this year.
The new Calls for Service Dashboard displays active police calls across Fairfax County, updating every five minutes. Two additional dashboards provide historical information about police helicopter missions and drone deployments, allowing residents to see how the department uses its aviation resources.
Major Dana Ferreira, assistant commander of the department's Planning and Research Bureau, said the new Calls for Service Dashboard uses computer-aided dispatch information from the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications.
A call appears on the dashboard when the first responding officer arrives at the scene and remains visible until the last assigned officer clears the incident.
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The dashboard displays a map showing the general locations of active calls, along with an event number, road name, police district, patrol area and preliminary classification of the incident.
Residents can use the map to determine whether police are responding to an incident near their neighborhood, although the department has designed the system to prevent users from identifying specific addresses.
As users zoom in beyond a certain point, the markers disappear.
"That is so that the person can see again is that happening near their community," Ferreira said. "But at the same time, we're not going to identify a crime victim or someone reporting a crime to the Fairfax County Police Department by placing a marker on their home."
The dashboard does not display names, dates of birth, phone numbers or other personally identifying information.
It also resets at midnight each day. Calls still active at that time are removed and do not carry over to the next day's display.
Ferreira cautioned that the classifications shown on the dashboard are preliminary and may not accurately reflect what officers ultimately discover during an investigation.
Dispatchers assign initial classifications based on the information available when a call is received. Those classifications can change after officers arrive and investigate.
However, updated classifications may not appear on the dashboard before an incident is closed.
"I very much want to emphasize that event classification is a preliminary designation," Ferreira said.
The department stressed that the dashboard should not be used to measure crime trends or determine whether a particular neighborhood is experiencing increased criminal activity.
Residents seeking official crime statistics and historical information should continue using the Fairfax County Police Open Data Portal.
Captain Karen Maslona, commander of the department's Helicopter Division, introduced two additional dashboards providing historical information about police aviation operations.
The Police Helicopter Missions Dashboard and Drone as First Responder Missions Dashboard display deployment information dating back to Oct. 1, 2026.
Both dashboards include the date, time, mission type and associated police district or fire station.
Maslona said the helicopter dashboard is intended to answer questions residents frequently ask when they hear an aircraft flying over their neighborhood.
"If you live in the Reston district, for example, and on the second, you notice a helicopter was out at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, you can go to our dashboard and see what type of event it was," Maslona said.
The helicopter and drone dashboards update at 30-minute intervals.
The Calls for Service Dashboard also includes helicopter and drone icons when those resources are assigned to active incidents.
Those icons remain associated with the calls until they are closed, even if the aircraft or drone has already completed its assignment.
Residents can filter active calls to identify incidents involving police aviation resources.
The department said the dashboards are intended to help residents understand the use of police helicopters and drones while protecting the privacy of people involved in emergencies.
Davis acknowledged that the new dashboards follow the department's decision earlier this year to encrypt police radio communications, a move that drew concerns from residents accustomed to monitoring police scanners.
The chief said the encryption was necessary to prevent sensitive information about crime victims, witnesses and people experiencing mental health emergencies from becoming publicly accessible.
"I grew up in College Park, Maryland, and two sounds of my childhood were the train that we lived nearby, constant sound of a train, and the second sound in my childhood was a police scanner," Davis said.
His father was a Prince George's County police officer, and the family kept a scanner running in their kitchen, Davis recalled.
Davis said he understands the public's interest in monitoring police activity but emphasized that the department has a responsibility to protect personally identifying information.
He also acknowledged that criminals sometimes monitor police radio traffic to learn about law enforcement operations, including response times and deployment patterns.
During the briefing, a reporter questioned whether the new dashboards could similarly provide useful information to criminals.
Davis responded that the department had attempted to balance public access with safety by limiting the geographic precision and personal information displayed.
"Everything is about balance, and we want to protect crime victims. We want to protect people who report crimes. We want to protect people who witness crimes," Davis said.
He said police have encountered situations in which information about crime victims became public before detectives could notify family members.
The chief also recognized Sean Kennedy, a community member who had expressed concerns about the encrypted radio system and offered suggestions for providing information to the public.
Davis said the department listened to Kennedy and other residents while developing its approach to sharing police activity information.
"We hear our community," Davis said. "We are not engaged ever in trying to cover up anything or to sweep anything under the proverbial carpet."
He said the department would continue seeking technological solutions that allow the public to access information without compromising privacy or public safety.
The three dashboards are intended to serve different purposes:
Additional information is available through the Fairfax County Police Department's news website and its Open Data Portal.
Ferreira emphasized that the new dashboards are intended to supplement, rather than replace, the department's existing public information efforts, including news releases, social media updates and briefings following critical incidents.
"This does not replace the incredible work that our public affairs team does to keep the community informed," Ferreira said.
Rather, he described the new dashboard as another resource residents can use to learn about police activity in their neighborhoods.
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