Sergeant Jennifer Foster was recently promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and assigned to the Sharon Bulova Center for Community Health (SBCCH), formerly known as Woodburn and later as Merrifield Center. She supervises a sergeant and several line staff responsible for the safety of persons in crisis under their custody, and she assists, when possible, in maintaining the safety of all Community Services Board staff and individuals receiving services at the SBCCH.
2nd Lt. Foster has worked for the Sheriff’s Office for 11 years, primarily in the Adult Detention Center (ADC) until her recent transfer to SBCCH.
Foster attended George Mason University, earning a B.S. in Criminology. In her senior year she interned with the Police Department’s Cold Case Unit, as she has always been interested in forensic science and problem solving. After graduation, she waitressed at the Vienna Inn while contemplating a career plan. Although she enjoyed her police internship, she was not interested in spending her workdays out in the elements, which is inevitable with a police officer’s responsibility for patrol and traffic safety.
As it happens, Foster’s father was a Fairfax County Sheriff’s deputy who encouraged her to apply with us. She did so and was hired. “The Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy gave me the confidence that I could do the job for which I was hired. I wanted to be even half as good and well-respected as my dad.”
Her father, 2nd Lt. Joel Thompson, retired four years ago. “Now that he’s retired,” she says, “I can set my own path moving forward.”
Until now, her favorite assignment was classification in the ADC. “It touches so much in the jail; it’s like the nucleus,” she explains. “We make decisions on inmate housing, restrictions and discipline. It requires a lot of problem solving. I learned so much about the inner workings of the jail.”
Now, Foster loves her new assignment. “Working at the crisis center is back to being part of a small unit, like classification, except I’m dealing with the general public rather than with inmates. It’s a different facet of the agency that I had never experienced before.” In 2016, she was certified in Crisis Intervention Team training, which she says is essential for her current assignment.
Foster is also a general instructor who teaches classes in stress management and Active Bystandership in Law Enforcement (ABLE) at the Criminal Justice Academy. In addition, she is a CPR instructor and teaches part of the supervisor seminar for newly promoted sergeants.
Foster is married to a Fairfax County firefighter, and she and her husband have two children.
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