2019 Franconia District Station Annual Report

FRANCONIA DISTRICT STATION

2019 ANNUAL REPORT FAIRFAX COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT

FCPD - Franconia Annual Report Captain Gregory Fried, Commander

2019 - Page

Franconia District “The Crossroads of Fairfax County�

Several of the major traffic arteries of Fairfax County and, indeed, of the U. S. east coast pass through Franconia District. They include I-95, I-395, I-495, U. S. Route 1, and others. They help make Franconia an increasingly diverse community that contains a blend of established, new and planned residential neighborhoods and commercial districts.

Staffing: Approximately 140 sworn officers and 30 civilians.

District Size: 51 square miles.

Coverage Area: See map at right. Annandale, Springfield, Lorton, Little River Turnpike south to Mason Neck and I-95 east to Telegraph Road.

Points of Interest: Springfield Town Center, Kingstowne, Lorton, the fastest growing residential area in the county, Gunston Hall Plantation, Pohick Bay Regional Park, Mason Neck State Park, Mason Neck National Wildlife Preserve, Lee District Park and Accotink Park.

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Table of Contents Franconia District page 2

Contents page 3

Message from the Commander page 4

Franconia Vision 2020 page 5

Franconia District Station Organizational Chart page 6

VIPS, Auxiliaries and Crossing Guards page 7

Citizens Advisory Committee page 8

National Night Out page 9

Community Report and Nextdoor page 10

Franconia Neighborhood Engagement Strategy

Franconia in the Community pages 12—13

Crime Statistics, Calls for Service and Traffic Crash Data pages 14—16

Criminal Investigations Section (CIS) page 17

Neighborhood Patrol Unit (NPU) and Selective Enforcement Team (SET) pages 18—19

2019 Officers of the Quarter page 20

Franconia Officer of the Year page 21

Useful Links and How to Connect page 22

Subscribe to Franconia page 23

page 11

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Message from the Commander Welcome to the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) Franconia District Station 2019 Annual Report. I want to first thank our dedicated sworn, civilian, and volunteer personnel from the Franconia District Station for their commitment to our community, and dedication to preventing and combating crime every day. I am honored to stand with them and watch their exceptional work on display as they work to improve the quality of life for everyone in our District. Additionally, I want to thank our community for the new relationships we have established, as well as the existing relationships we have enhanced. I am proud of the network of partners we have built in our community during 2019, and I look forward to furthering that success during 2020.

Thank you to all of you who have subscribed to our monthly Community Report. When this idea was born, we were not sure where it would lead us. Our goal was to expand our engagement footprint within the Franconia District, highlight the great work everyone is doing as a community to keep our neighborhoods safe, and add a personal level of connection with our personnel. I am thrilled with the positive feedback and participation regarding this initiative. The amount of community members subscribed to this report continues to grow each month. Please continue to share with your neighbors.

As we embark on 2020, we have adopted a shared vision called Franconia Vision 2020. This Vision is rooted in the Fairfax County and FCPD Strategic Plans, the FCPD Mission and Vision, and now our own 2020 Vision. Our mission is to create a safe community by reducing, preventing, and fighting crime in the Franconia District and Fairfax County. It includes the following Vision, which I firmly believe are three critical areas that will contribute to our success this year: Reduce, Prevent, and Fight Crime; Employee Wellness and Resiliency, and Community Outreach and Engagement. As we build on this Vision, I will continually seek input from our personnel and community as to how we can further push the needle forward toward fulfilling this shared goal. We cannot do it alone, and it takes a community, so I ask that you please join as we seek to make a meaningful impact for all stakeholders.

I believe it is best to always be looking forward, especially with the crime that is impacting our neighborhoods. We witnessed a slight increase in crime during 2019, but I am optimistic that 2020 will bring progress as we implement strategies to enhance our information sharing, and strategically deploy our personnel to meet our growing challenges.

Thank you all for the support in 2019, and I look forward to the great things ahead in 2020!

Regards,

Gregory R. Fried Captain Gregory R. Fried Commander, Franconia District Station

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Franconia Vision 2020 Mission Create a safe community by reducing, preventing, and fighting crime in the Franconia District and Fairfax County Strategic Vision •

Reduce, prevent, and fight crime.

•

Employee wellness and resiliency.

•

Community outreach and engagement.

Our Core Guiding Principles

•

Highest Levels of Professionalism, Integrity, and Honesty.

•

Safety, Protection, and Service to our community, Department, and Station.

•

Accountability and Respect.

•

Leadership and Teamwork.

•

Courage.

•

Fairness.

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Franconia District Organizational Chart Station Commander

Administrative Assistant Station Assistant Commander

Patrol Squads A—Side (Days, Eves, Mids)

Patrol Squads B—Side (Days, Eves, Mids

Criminal Investigations Section (CIS)

Neighborhood Patrol Unit (NPU)

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VIPS, Auxiliaries and Crossing Guards Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS), Auxiliary Police Officers (APO) and Crossing Guards are three programs which serve an important role by extending the Station’s resources.

The programs free patrol officers and other staff from tasks that might otherwise either divert them from primary duties or go undone.

Volunteers in Police Service are community volunteers who contribute hundreds of hours each year in such tasks as organizing and maintaining files, supporting the Citizens’ Advisory Committee, helping with National Night Out and creating fliers, posters and newsletters for the station.

The Auxiliary Police Officer program was created to provide volunteer support to the operational and administrative activities conducted by the Department. Franconia Auxiliaries supported 26 events during 2019 in addition to their normal patrol duties.

Activities included assisting at DWI checkpoints, pedestrian and traffic control at a variety of events, support of National Night Out, and (below) teaching youngsters some early fundamentals of safe driving.

Crossing Guards are an important part of the traffic safety program.

Franconia District has eight guards who help insure student safety and smooth traffic flow at key school locations.

Want to get involved?

Check out this link to learn about opportunities available to assist the FCPD in your community: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/ getinvolved FCPD - Franconia Annual Report 2019 - Page 7

Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC) Want to be more involved with the Fairfax County Police Department? Want to provide a valuable service to your community, and be more informed about County issues and laws at the same time?

Consider attending your local CAC meetings. They are open to the public and are held at your local police station each month.

CAC meetings enhance communication between County residents and the FCPD and offer residents a chance to interact with their local police. Community members are kept informed about significant safety matters and are encouraged to bring any issues or questions to the attention of local police commanders.

Franconia District Station CAC meets the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7 PM. The point of contact is Kim Barber, kim.barber@fairfaxcounty.gov

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National Night Out National Night Out is a community event in the United States and Canada that focuses on prevention of crime and drug activity. It is held each year on the first Tuesday of August.

NNO enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community. Furthermore, it provides a great opportunity to get police and neighbors together in a fun setting allowing the opportunity to ask questions, and get to know each other. In 2019, Franconia District Station’s Crime Prevention Officers supported 51 neighborhood National Night Out events, the most of any Fairfax County police district.

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Community Report & Nextdoor Communication is a primary aspect of community engagement. Among the methods the Franconia District Station uses are the Monthly Community Report, periodically supplemented by Messages from the Commander and by social media.

Nextdoor is a social media app that helps bridge the communication gap with neighbors and law enforcement. Social media such as Nextdoor provides a modern option for communicating and corresponding with others.

With Nextdoor and law enforcement working together communities, are made aware of current criminal trends, missing persons or suspicious activities throughout a specific neighborhood. For more information about connecting through social media, see the How to Stay in Contact page at the end of this report.

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Franconia Neighborhood Engagement Strategy The Franconia and Fair Oaks District Stations participated in a Neighborhood Engagement Strategy (NES) from May to September. Each district station faces unique challenges, expectations, and crime prevention needs throughout their neighborhoods. As such, the focus aimed to deepen relationships and reduce crime by implementing 21st Century policing practices in a strategic and focused manner. We partnered with other County agencies, community organizations, businesses, and community members to strengthen communities in Fairfax County.

The engagement strategy focused efforts in the following areas: Interactive Community Policing, Youth and School Engagement, Business Community Engagement, Faith Community Engagement, and HOA/Civic/ Management Engagement.

NES Kickoff Event in Lorton, Virginia FCPD - Franconia Annual Report 2019 - Page 11

Franconia in the Community

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Franconia in the Community

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Crime Statistics The Fairfax County Police Department gathers statistical data based on the Virginia State Police Uniform Crime Reporting Incident Based Reporting (IBR) System. The most serious offenses are designated as Group “A” offenses and consist of 22 categories of crime involving 46 different offenses. IBR offenses are divided into three categories: •

Crimes Against Persons,

•

Crimes Against Property,

GROUP “A” OFFENSES BY CATEGORY YEAR 2018 2019

% CHANGE

• Crimes Against Society.

Franconia District Station crime events increased by about 7% from 2018 to 2019.

For more information about FCPD crime statistics visit: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/chief/ crimestatistics

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Calls for Service Calls for Service Calls for Service is a basic measure of activity for the Station. It includes both calls generated by the community through 9-1-1 or the FCPD non-emergency number as well as calls that are self-initiated by an officer.

Calls for Service captured in this report include all dispositions whether Founded or Unfounded but exclude those without a full description (i.e., Null or Miscellaneous).

There are three main categories of Calls for Service: Criminal, Service and Traffic.

The volume of Calls for Service for Franconia District Station is among the highest in the County. The total number of calls was virtually unchanged between 2018 (65,674) and 2019 (65,625).

For more information about FCPD crime statistics visit: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/chief/ crimestatistics

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Traffic Crashes 15

14 10

18

17 18

12

10

15

16

11

12

Franconia Police District’s nickname, “The Crossroads of Fairfax County” brings with it a high risk of traffic crashes. Still, in 2019 preliminary data from the Virginia DMV’s Traffic Reporting Electronic Data System (TREDS) shows the number of reportable crashes reduced by 11.8% from 2018 (978 crashes) to 2019 (863 crashes).

The high incidence of traffic accidents and the need to keep traffic flowing while protecting the community makes traffic enforcement and education a critical aspect of the Franconia District Station workload.

TREDS data is publicly available online at:

dmv.virginia.gov/safety/#crash_data/

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Criminal Investigations Section The Franconia Criminal Investigations Section (CIS) consists of several detectives, shopping center officers, and our Crime Analyst. CIS was assigned 376 cases, more than another district CIS. A breakout of the cases by type and by status is at right. The Franconia CIS closure rate was 39% compared to a national average of about 14%. In the process, CIS recovered $98,674 in property or court restitution.

Domestic Violence Investigations From February through October 2019, the Domestic Violence unit was augmented by an additional detective on temporary assignment. Thereafter, a single detective staffed the unit.

The unit investigated 1,340 cases during the year. The unit contacts all victims in all domestic disputes and domestic assault cases. In addition, cases involving stalking, protection orders, phone threats and court violations are investigated.

Franconia CIS Cases Cases by Type

Cases by Status

Burglary

70 (18%)

Active

30 (8%)

Robbery

9 (2%)

Arrest

66 (18%)

Larceny

160 (42%)

Exceptional

69 (18%)

Destruction

53 (14%)

Inactive

Inactive WOR

Embezzlement

6 (2%)

Fraud Offenses

5 (2%)

Prescription Fraud

3 (1%)

Unfounded

Assault

9 (3%)

Total

All other

61 (16%)

Total

Service

171 (45.5%) 10 (2.5%) 30 (8%) -

376

376 FCPD - Franconia Annual Report 2019 - Page 17

Neighborhood Patrol Unit (NPU) The Neighborhood Patrol Unit (NPU) is a specialized unit which patrols primarily on bicycle in order to maximize neighborhood engagement.

Criminal Enforcement in 2019:

NPU worked 399 incidents in 2019. In total they seized drugs, currency and other items with a total estimated street value of $426,158.

Assistance to other Entities: NPU also assists other department entities with their cases. In 2019, the team assisted in finding two runaways from a residential school program, assisted with a narcotics case that ultimately led to several arrests, the discovery of several firearms, and the serving of 26 outstanding warrants.

Community Reports: Another important role for NPU is responding to community reports of illegal activity.

During 2019, NPU investigated a total of 46 complaints from community members, mostly involving illegal drug complaints.

Selective Enforcement Team (SET):

SET is a specialized unit that concentrates on traffic safety and enforcement. The unit doubled in size in 2019 by adding an officer for the evening shift. Altogether, the two wrote 2,479 citations and looked into 53 traffic-related complaints from the community.

They also conducted training for patrol officers, managed the monthly traffic safety initiatives, and provided crash and traffic data that helped in addressing community inquiries.

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NPU (continued) NPU in the Community: In addition to criminal enforcement, NPU participated in a variety of community events in 2019. Officers spent time educating residents about pedestrian safety, attended several bike rodeos at schools and churches, helped with the Hayfield Secondary School career day, joined kids as they rode to school for National Bike to School Day, and attended summer concerts in the park at Lee District Rec Center. They also took the “cannonball challenge” during National Night Out, participated in a “Bike to Worship” event at a local church, and helped the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with a child safety event at Old Navy.

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2019 Officers of the Quarter Officer of the Quarter Malloch is presented his award by the CAC

Assistant Commander 1st Lt. Rachel Levy

CAC Vice Chair Mary McCutchen

Commander Capt. Greg Fried

Officers Malloch and Petersen responded to a domestic violence incident in progress and made contact with a man who told them that no physical violence had occurred and that they could not enter. The odor of marijuana was detected, and a search warrant was obtained.

They seized armor-piercing ammunition, marijuana, and a fully loaded M-4 assault rifle. The man was a member of a violent gang and was on parole for robbery and was arrested.

PFC Kalivoda investigated illegal dumping on U. S. government land in the Lorton area. In coordination with the appropriate agency, he tirelessly investigated and found clues in the trash which implicated a local trash removal company. He developed a small task force and made an arrest. His work addressed quality of life issues of serious community concern.

PFC Hanks had a heavy case load, including several unusually complex cases. She conducted thorough investigations on all her cases and wrote detailed reports which enabled the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office to easily follow the facts. She assisted numerous victims of domestic abuse and allowed officers to provide the maximum resources for each victim.

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Franconia Officer of the Year The nominating letter reads, in part: “PFC Malloch patrols the Lorton area of the Franconia District Station and in doing so has developed an excellent rapport with the community members. This strong rapport has de-escalated several events, in which community members wanted for violent crimes have peacefully turned themselves in … … community members have posted messages of praise and thankfulness for Officer Malloch’s assistance …

PFC Ryan Malloch was selected by his peers as for the Captain’s Franconia District Station Officer of the Year for 2019. He was presented the award at a roll ceremony and presented a certificate

by Station Commander, Captain Fried, and Assistant Commander, Lieutenant Anne Rizza.

… during roll calls, [he provides] information on current crime trends relayed to him by community members and through his own investigations ... He consistently works beyond his scheduled work shift, assisting the oncoming patrol shift. … PFC Malloch has been an outstanding asset to the Fairfax County Police Department and embodies its values.”

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Useful Links and How to Connect HOW TO STAY IN CONTACT News & Information Updates - FCPD Blog: https://fcpdnews.wordpress.com Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FairfaxCountyPD Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FairfaxCountyPD

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/FairfaxCountyPD Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/FairfaxCountyPolice Nextdoor: https://nextdoor.com/agency-detail/va/fairfax/fairfax-county-police-department/ See what police responded to in your neighborhood: https://www.crimereports.com (Click on Explore the Map. When the map opens, type in an address or street and city name) Learn about crime statistics in Fairfax County: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/chief/crimestatistics Watch “Inside FCPD” – Quarterly news program: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/cableconsumer/channel16/inside-fcpd Find out why the police helicopter was flying over your area: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/ helicopterdivision/fairfax1 Report crimes online: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/howdoi/communityreportingsystem/ REMINDER: Please be vigilant & report any suspicious activity in your neighborhood Anyone with information pertaining to the listed cases is asked to contact Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411TIPS/8477, e-mail at www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES/274637 or call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.

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