Biggest Police Staffing Shortage in Fairfax History Goes Unaddressed
The Fairfax County Police Department’s historic staffing shortage could potentially have a significant effect on our ability to keep our public safe. Despite my repeated attempts to have the Board address police recruiting and retention over the last five plus years, Fairfax County is the only jurisdiction among our surrounding counties that has not addressed the issue of police recruiting and retention. Beginning November 6th, the County will be forced to reduce staffing in many of the specialty units that take our department from a good department to a great department and shift resources to patrol.
Like much of the country during this period being called the “Great Resignation”, the county is having issues filling positions across many departments. Unfortunately, the stakes are much higher for our community when those unfilled positions are in public safety. And unlike the recent phenomenon of the Great Resignation and the national anti-police climate, we have seen the police staffing crisis coming for years. In the late 90s we hired around 300 additional officers because of additional federal funding who are now up for retirement. Our new Police Chief recognized this in his first few weeks and addressed it in his first report to the Board.
For years I have asked the Board to address police pay, recruiting and retention, but instead of prioritizing this core need, the Board has opted to fund new programs and “Board initiatives." Now crime in Northern Virginia is on the rise, there’s an ongoing nationwide exodus from policing, and it’s even more critical we address public safety positions. There are creative ways we can address this issue, but it will take the Board making it a priority.
Out of a force of 1,484 we are down 144 officers. By the end of this year 26 additional officers are scheduled to retire and more are eligible for retirement as early as today and could leave at any time. In addition, there are approximately 33 officers whose status is up in the air because of vaccines. Because of the current shortages, almost every shift is holding over 4-6 officers and most officers are working 16-hour days for their 5-day shift. Officers have worked long hours through the pandemic and are now working significant overtime, which is not good for their safety, wellbeing, or effectiveness serving our community. It is also not good for retention.
To meet mandatory patrol staffing, many officers have been temporarily pulled off specialty units like crime prevention, traffic enforcement, community relations and reassigned to patrol. This will be implemented more formally on November 6th, impacting many of the programs that take our department from good to great.
Disappointingly, despite my repeated warnings and the warnings of the police unions over the last five plus years about police recruiting, retention, and compensation, the Chairman of the Board and at least one Supervisor have said that we don’t have a recruitment or retention problem. Instead of devoting funds to address these issues, the Board has focused on “board initiatives” including co-responder policing models instead of addressing these core issues. It’s like putting icing on a cake that’s falling apart. We need to address the core issues first.
There are many reasons officers are leaving or not joining the force; the biggest reason is pay. Fairfax ranks 8th among surrounding jurisdictions when it comes to compensation. Issues with the pay scale means that rookie officers can make more than the experienced officers training them. Detectives are opting to go back to patrol because the pay is better. Others have left Fairfax altogether to pursue more competitive compensation in other counties. The attrition rate from last year to this year increased from 5 percent to 9 percent and our recruiting classes at the academy are not large enough to fill those vacancies. Our current recruit class only has 27 officers and will not keep up with attrition. Even if we regularly had full recruit classes, it would take at least three years to fill our current vacancies, not including additional vacancies that will come as officers choose to retire.
If prioritized, the County has the resources to look creatively at recruiting and retention. Strategies could include referral bonuses, fixing the longevity step increases that have been missed for existing officers, and developing a strategic recruiting and retention plan. We can find creative ways to retain officers like extending DROP from 3 to 5 years for critical positions. Anne Arundel PD is now offering $20K signing bonuses (earned over 5 years). DC PD is hiring back experienced retirees allowing them to double dip while they work at entry level salaries on patrol. In the private sector when we have a need that is a priority we think outside the box, the County should as well. Public safety should be one of our top priorities.
I understand the Board will finally be discussing our severe police shortage at the Public Safety Committee meeting this coming Tuesday at 3 p.m. If you’re interested in watching the discussion, you can stream it live or watch the recording of it here.
Unfortunately, the police department is not the only place we have staffing challenges. We are having issues in a number of areas including other critical areas like the 911 center, paramedics, mental health workers, sanitation workers and less critical areas like life guards so the rec center pools can stay open. Rather than focusing on new Board initiatives it is time the Board focus on a strategy to address the most significant issue of the day – staffing – and make it a priority. Unfortunately, this has not been done to date as political agendas and Board initiatives and spending have prevailed.
