Countywide

Long plagued by personnel issues, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) is seeing an unsustainable trajectory of staff turnover — one that staff says demands the immediate attention of lawmakers.

Covid-era initiatives that were once expected to be temporary have become permanent, but only out of necessity, three staffers told a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors committee last week.


Countywide

Two local public safety agencies are sounding the alarm on an increase in scam calls targeting Fairfax County residents.

Both the Sheriff’s Office and the Fire and Rescue Department are warning about recent schemes that fraudulently seek payments from seemingly random targets.


News

A deputy with the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office was charged last week with assaulting a family member at the Camden Fairfax Corner Apartments in Fair Oaks.

Fairfax County police officers responded at 4:43 p.m. on Friday (Aug. 29) to what was initially described as a report of a woman brandishing a weapon in the 4200 block of Summit Corner Drive, according to the police scanner.


News

An Alexandria man died yesterday (Thursday) at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, the second death to occur in the jail this year.

Omar Maknassi, 32, was arrested and transported to the jail on Wednesday evening (July 30), but early the following morning, a Fairfax County sheriff’s deputy found him unresponsive in the cell where he was being held, according to statements from the sheriff’s office and Fairfax County Police Department.


Countywide

Fairfax County and hundreds of other localities across the country were labeled “sanctuary jurisdictions” last week by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for limiting their cooperation with federal immigration officials.

The department accused the localities on the list — which was published on its website last Thursday (May 29) before apparently being removed over the weekend — of obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from enforcing federal immigration laws, stating that they will all receive formal notices of non-compliance.


News

Another person in custody at Fairfax County’s jail has died.

A man identified as as Sam Zu Yung, 32, was found unresponsive in his cell by a sheriff’s deputy around 6:17 p.m. yesterday (Monday), the Fairfax County Police Department said today (Tuesday) in a press release.


Countywide

After seeking to pressure localities to work with federal immigration authorities by proposing to withhold funding, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is now directly ordering state police and local jails to cooperate.

Youngkin signed an executive order last Thursday (Feb. 27) directing the Virginia State Police to sign an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that would create a task force with deputized troopers who can help identify and arrest undocumented individuals “who pose a risk to public safety.”


Countywide

As Fairfax County officials work to fill an estimated $292.7 million budget shortfall in the next fiscal year, public safety services will bear a substantial brunt of potential cuts.

Of the $59.8 million in reductions proposed in the advertised budget, which was unveiled by County Executive Bryan Hill earlier this month, approximately $26.2 million will come from the police department, fire and rescue department, and sheriff’s office.


Countywide

Undocumented immigrants in Fairfax County and elsewhere in Virginia could face threats on two fronts in the new year, with both national and state elected leaders proposing policies targeting that population.

As incoming president Donald Trump plans mass deportations, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin unveiled a budget proposal this week that would require local governments to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and withhold funding from those with cooperation-limiting policies, including Fairfax County.


News

The man charged with raping a woman in Herndon on Monday (Nov. 18) had been sentenced to jail less than a week earlier, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office says.

Denis Humberto Navarette Romero, 31, was previously arrested by Herndon Police for a separate incident and brought to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on Oct. 20, according to the sheriff’s office.


View More Stories