Regarding the proposal to replace Fairfax County police support for school crossings in Vienna with Vienna police, no change has been implemented and this proposed change is still just a proposal.  Fairfax County continues to staff all school crossings in Vienna and in all other areas of the county, and the safety of our children is our top priority. 

I first learned of this proposal in late December and immediately forwarded it to Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert.  This is one of many proposals and initiatives undertaken by Fairfax County to resolve the shortage of officers available for patrol and responding to calls for service.  I have heard from numerous members of the community about concerns with this proposal and we are exploring alternatives. The current system which makes police officers unavailable for emergencies and other calls needs to be updated so that no police officer – whether County or Town – is regularly drawn into that duty.

For additional details and background see the memo below from Fairfax County Deputy County Executive Tom Arnold.

March 19, 2024

Chairman and BOS,

Some or many of you received community questions over the FCPD turning over school crossings in the Town of Vienna at the beginning of next school year.  

For some background and context:

Currently, there are 170 school crossing locations across the county resulting in a total of 340 daily crossings (morning and afternoon).  FCPD has 72 crossing guard positions, of which 53 are currently filled.  Each crossing is 30 minutes in duration, which allows many school crossing guards the ability to cover two or three crossings per day.  When crossing guards are not available, police officers are pulled off of patrol responsibilities to handle the crossing.  Due to the number of crossings that are required to be covered each day, dozens of police officers are called upon daily to cover school crossings.  During the time deployed at school crossings, FCPD police officers are not available to respond to calls for service or emergencies. 

In the Fall of 2023, the FCPD conducted its annual review of all school crossing locations. This review occurs every year to ensure all crossing locations continue to meet the criteria for a crossing guard. On occasion, some school crossings are eliminated, and others are added, all in coordination with the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).  

During the 2023 review, we eliminated a few crossings based on our existing criteria, and identified several crossings that we have historically covered outside of our jurisdiction.  These crossings were located on Fort Belvoir (1), and in the Towns of Herndon (1) and Vienna (9). Fort Belvoir and the Town of Herndon have already agreed to handle the crossing in their respective jurisdictions. 

When crossing guards are not available, the FCPD has historically sent patrol officers into these jurisdictions to perform the crossing.  FCPD Traffic Division commanders met with the Vienna PD to discuss these crossings and collaborate on coverage solutions that include transitioning coverage responsibility to the Vienna PD as the other jurisdictions embraced. 

We will work to add this topic to a future Safety and Security Committee meeting.  This will allow FCPD to provide an overview of the program, explain the annual review process/criteria and provide some recommendations for your consideration. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Respectfully,
Tom Arnold, Deputy County Executive
Safety and Security