JC Speaks

Here in Fairfax County, I believe we are taking our law enforcement professionals for granted as well. In fact, starting this weekend [on July 1], Fairfax County Police will be going on their fourth year of a pay freeze, even though the Washington, D.C., region has been only slightly affected by the recession. And in fact, in many cases we are doing much better than the rest of the country when you look at our housing prices and unemployment rates. I am extremely proud of the job our Fairfax County law enforcement personnel have done and especially the professionalism with which they do it. Our crime rate is kept low and as someone who travels a lot, I feel safer walking the streets here and safer in my home than most anywhere else, in or out of the U.S. ....JC

Dear JC

Firstly JC….just say no to drugs and you won’t end up writing letters like this. Your drug problem has caused you to be dazed and confused over the police problem in Fairfax County.

Now here’s the problem…and I’m gonna write this slowly for you so I don’t lose you…..okay ready? Here we go……the problem is NOT…….wait for it..…..the problem is NOT that the people of the county are taking the police for granted……we’ll pause here and let that sink in …….the problem is that the cops are taking the people for granted.

Hence the pay freeze. But, even with that freeze, the police, who have an air force and a navy, are very well paid. In fact, on average, the Fairfax County police are among the best paid police force in North America. And that’s based on salary alone and does not include their lucrative benefits package.

And what do they do with that money? Over 73% of them spend it outside the county because they live outside the county. And it isn’t a matter of affordability. There are a lot of people in this county who make far less than the average cop, to say nothing of their very generous benefits package.

We’re tickled pink that your happy with the job that the local police are doing but you are wrong about the crime rate. Crime rates are lower all over north America, all over the United States and throughout Virginia for a lot of reasons and not a single one of them is due to the work of the Fairfax County Police, Navy and Air Force. And feeling safe is a state of mind…actually it’s a code to get around being politically incorrect…. but let’s not go there while your high.

JC, if you are sober enough to grasp the sense of contempt and frustration that the cops have for the people then you are certainly sober enough to grasp the resignation that the people have for the Fairfax County Police, Navy and Air Force.

In closing, may I say how very impressed I was that you didn’t write it in crayon which tells me therapists in the county facilities are finally easing up on that whole “never give them sharp objects” thing.