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'We're hemorrhaging' Fairfax County police decry budget proposal as police shortage spikes

 

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — The police staffing crisis continues in Fairfax County where the police department is still short nearly 200 police officers. As other nearby counties and cities increase police officer pay to keep officers and attract new ones, Fairfax County is lagging. Last week, Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill proposed a new county budget that includes 2% pay raises for every county employee, including police officers.

Hill also proposed funding performance, merit and longevity increases.

“The executive’s budget that was proposed is extremely disappointing,” said Steve Monahan, the President of the Fairfax Chapter of the Southern States Police Benevolent Association. “The budget just itself undervalues us entirely. Our officers are out here overworked, underpaid and now it’s very clear the County Executive undervalues to the work that they do.”

The Fairfax County police union is warning residents what could happen if the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors moves forward with the County Executive’s budget.

“This is going to impact Fairfax County citizens and community members in a negative way,” Monahan said. “I don’t know if the County Executive realizes that. And the impact that that’s going to do to this prestigious title that this county has which is the safest jurisdiction of its size.”

“I think this department [FCPD] is getting to the point of beyond return it’s going to force the department to cut services,” Monahan added. “The community members are not going to receive the services they expect.”

The 200-officer shortage comes at a time when several major crimes against people and property are rising in Fairfax County.

7News was the first report last summer that the staffing crisis at FCPD got so bad that the department declared a personnel emergency – forcing officers to work longer shifts.

“We are still hemorrhaging and what the county is doing instead of fixing it and giving us a tourniquet to fix this hemorrhaging they’ve given us a band-aid and said suck it up," Monahan said. "What we want to see and what we hope to see is the Board of Supervisors is going to change some things. We know they have the ability to do that.”

Nearby cities and counties have increased starting police officer pay while Fairfax County approved signing bonuses for new officers.

“Thankfully, Fairfax County has begun signing bonuses,” Monahan said. “But at the end of the day, what applicant is going to want to come here when the starting pay is at the bottom in the region? It’s sad to say that Fairfax County used to be the number one place for applicants to apply to. Now Fairfax County's starting pay is the lowest in the region. And that’s 18 different agencies. We are at the bottom for starting pay.”

7News asked supervisors if they think the proposed budget addresses the police staffing crisis in Fairfax County.

“It doesn’t really even start to address it,” Supervisor Pat Herrity told 7News. ard of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said he wants to find a balance between providing tax relief to homeowners and pay increases to county employees.

“I will be meeting with a number of community organizations as well as multiple Fairfax County employee groups during this year’s budget process as I do every year,” McKay told 7News in a statement. “I will work with my colleagues to strike the best balance possible between providing tax relief to County homeowners and providing well-earned pay increases for our County employees who provided critical services to our residents. This includes looking at options above what the County Executive has proposed.”

"This is a false narrative, it is not a question of pay increases or tax increases, it is a question of priorities and what is important to our residents,” said Herrity. “Public safety is clearly a priority of our residents. The Board needs to be doing the same thing our residents are doing and make the hard choices of what should be funded and what shouldn't. To date, they could not even second my motion to begin looking spending for efficiencies or spending reductions as prior Boards have done in challenging times (under both Democrat and Republican boards)."

But with crime on the rise, and officers continuing to leave, Monahan wants all county leaders to acknowledge there is a problem and to fix it.

“In the long run, I think the county needs to step up. The county needs to look at how other entities are prioritizing public safety compensation and do the same for us,” Monahan said. “Fairfax County has a special police department. Fairfax County offers services that no other jurisdictions offer. As more and more officers leave, those specialties that we are able to provide to the community – the ESRO detective, the crisis intervention team, the helicopter, search and rescue – entities like that, we are going to have to start having to pull bodies from.”

“You’ve seen other jurisdictions reduce calls for service say hey we can’t come to these calls anymore because we don’t have bodies,” Monahan added. “We’ve seen other jurisdictions prioritize mental health for officers by cutting back on the number of hours worked. Instead, we are still in a position where we are requiring mandatory overtime, we are having officers stay past the end of their shifts, we are seeing specialties not be fully staffed.”

Budget public hearings are scheduled for April 11 and April 13.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is expected to make changes to the County Executive’s budget on May 2 and is set to finalize the budget on May 9.

“Our officers can’t take it anymore because at the end of the day, they have to go home and put food on the table for themselves and their family,” Monahan added. “And when you see a jurisdiction next door paying more than $10,000 starting pay why would an applicant apply for Fairfax? He [Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill] chose to give us 2 [percent raises]. That’s not even keeping in mind what the national inflation numbers are at. That doesn’t take into account the health care premiums that could go up. There’s going to be less money going into our officers' pockets.”

“Based on the pay plan, general county employees will receive an average 4.06% increase and public safety employees will receive an average 4.39% increase,” a Fairfax County news release said.

Hill included $90 million to be allocated at the Board of Supervisors discretion.