Approximately 100 Fairfax County Police Department personnel will be on hand in D.C. to provide public safety support services on Inauguration Day.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a memorandum of understanding today (Tuesday) with the D.C. government and U.S. Attorney for the District, authorizing county staff to participate in Presidential Inaugural Task Force from Jan. 17-21.
Virginia law requires a locality’s governing body to approve requests for use of police personnel outside the Commonwealth. The matter was approved by the county board without discussion or dissent.
All of Fairfax County’s costs for providing the personnel will be reimbursed by the federal government, with the D.C. government serving as the pass-through agency for funding, county officials said.
According to a written report from county staff, members of Fairfax’s Civil Disturbance Unit will be stationed along the parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue the afternoon of Jan. 20.
Fairfax personnel could be used for additional duties as events warrant, but “currently, there is no intelligence indicating any planned disturbances,” county police said in a memo to the Board of Supervisors.
As part of their participation, Fairfax police will receive limited, temporary deputization from the U.S. Marshals Service.
Planning for the nation’s 60th presidential inauguration is ongoing, and in September, construction began on a 10,000-square-foot inaugural platform at the U.S. Capitol.
During the 2021 presidential inauguration, Fairfax County police also maintained a heightened presence within the county itself after supporters of former president Donald Trump attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, putting the D.C. area on high alert for possible security issues.
With Election Day looming, the U.S. Capitol Police, Secret Service and other federal and local law enforcement agencies have been planning for the possibility of post-election violence.
Though experts told the States Newsroom that the likelihood of a repeat of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection seems “relatively low,” the Department of Homeland Security has classified Jan. 6, 2025 — the day when Congress will formally certify the Electoral College vote for the new president — as a National Special Security Event for the first time.
