Fairfax County fire investigators have identified the cause of a two-alarm fire that damaged three townhouses in Springfield yesterday (Monday).
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department was called to the 6200 block of Levi Court in the Greenwood neighborhood around 2:30 p.m. for the blaze.
Fairfax County Public Schools is rolling out advanced weapons detectors to all middle and high schools, but is that enough to keep schools safe? At least one member of the school board says no.
“Technology can identify a weapon or observe a fight, but it requires a human to intervene to seize the weapon or stop the fight,” Mount Vernon District Representative Mateo Dunne told FFXnow.
Those attending Fairfax County School Board meetings in the future may need to give themselves a little extra time to get settled in.
Starting this school year, Fairfax County Public Schools announced that it will expand its growing weapons screening program to school board meetings, requiring attendees to pass through OpenGate detectors before gaining entry.
Yesterday (Tuesday) marked a major milestone in the future of Fairfax County’s emergency response: one of the agency’s first uses of artificial intelligence.
For a brief period of time that day, the county’s Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC) tested an AI system to triage select calls for service to the non-emergency line, officials announced.
With friction growing between the public and school leaders over policy decisions, Fairfax County Public Schools is in the process of hiring security for its superintendent due to the need for additional protection over safety concerns.
The move has left legislative leaders curious if similar proposals could occur at other school divisions around the region and beyond, as school leaders continue to be challenged by the public and face investigations for their decisions.
Though fireworks are a traditional staple of Independence Day celebrations, they tend to be less welcome even on that occasion when unleashed without warning.
Such was the case last Friday (July 4) at a McDonald’s in Reston. Multiple people reportedly set off fireworks inside the fast-food restaurant, sparking havoc as patrons and employees fled the quickly smoke-filled scene.
Due to budget cuts, the Fairfax County Police Department is no longer offering free child car seat installations and inspections.
The department officially terminated its child safety seat program this past Tuesday (July 1), which marked the first day of fiscal year 2026.
A new initiative reporting crime data from across the D.C. region in “near-real time” has won praise from local leaders and will provide new tools for policymakers, public safety agencies and the public.
“It’s the only one we’re aware of in the nation,” said Eli Russ, a senior public safety planner for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), who serves as project manager for the effort.
Fairfax County will expand its speed camera program to 10 more public schools this summer, several months after it announced plans to install the devices.
After giving the public notice on Monday (June 2), the county will roll out the new cameras in two batches, starting with three cameras in early July. Another seven cameras will come online in mid-August before the next school year gets underway.
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.
