It remains unclear how the Herndon Police Department (HPD) will obtain and train new officers after the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy cut off the department over a disagreement with Police Chief Maggie DeBoard.
Fairfax Deputy County Executive for Safety and Security Thomas Arnold told HPD on March 18 that the criminal justice academy would terminate its affiliation with the town’s department, effective June 1, after DeBoard reportedly complained about the academy’s director, Major Wilson Lee, signing his name in Chinese on graduation certificates.
In response, Herndon Town Manager Bill Ashton announced on April 4 that the town was conducting an “external review” of the incident, but no resolution appears to have been reached by June. The town didn’t respond to requests for comment by press time, and an HPD spokesperson said there were no updates, as of May 31.
“The town is continuing to work to resolve the issue,” HPD Public Information Specialist Lisa Herndon said.
A Fairfax County spokesperson said the county also had “no additional information or updates on this matter.”
According to NBC4, which first reported the conflict, DeBoard asked the criminal justice academy to re-issue certificates with English signatures for graduates set to become Herndon police officers. The county refused, and DeBoard told NBC4 that Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis confronted her at a graduation ceremony on March 7 and “inappropriately accused me of being racist.”
The county viewed DeBoard’s actions as “inconsistent” with its culture and One Fairfax policy, which requires that racial and social equity be considered when developing policy and providing services, the Washington Post reported, citing an email from Arnold.
“We thank you for your agency’s contributions to the Academy and wish you and your officers well in their future law enforcement training endeavors,” Arnold wrote in the March 18 letter to DeBoard.
Though the affiliation was terminated on June 1, the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy still mentions Herndon as an agency that it serves on its website. The academy also trains recruits for the county’s police department, sheriff’s office and fire marshal’s office, along with Vienna police officers.
The HPD has 72 sworn and civilian employees. The department currently lists one open position for a full-time, certified officer, though it identified the launch of a new recruitment website as an upcoming initiative in the town’s fiscal year 2025 budget.
Adopted on May 14, the budget will take effect on July 1 and includes $10.8 million in personnel expenses for the police department, a 10% increase from the current fiscal year.
