all a big part of our newscast because
they're all top of mind topics.
So this afternoon we're sitting
down with Fairfax County Police
Chief Kevin Davis to talk about.
Thanks so much for joining
us this afternoon, Chief.
So let's talk about schools
first and foremost,
info Fairfax County Sro's are utilized.
Talk about the role they play ad
how these officers are specificy
trained to work with students.
Yeah. Well, thanks for having me, Abby.
You know, I heard your earlier remarks.
Maryland, Prince George's Count,
Montgomery County, DC,
they're all back today.
We've been back in for an entire week.
It seems like longer than that.
But it's important when you thik
about fall and the return to sc,
people think about the classroo.
They think about football and sr
and cooler weather, hopefully.
But but nowadays it's equally as
important to think about safety.
You know how you walk to school,
how you ride a bike to school,
how you take a school bus to school and
and how you drive to and from school,
Particularly the young people,
the juniors,
the seniors who are driving for a year or so,
sometimes at the most.
And we want to really encourage parents,
teachers, faculty and most
importantly the students themse,
that defensive driving is
absolutely the way to go.
That you're not going to learn.
You're not going to enjoy being a high
school senior or a high school junior
unless you can first get to school safe,
put the cell phone down,
slow down a little bit.
Pay attention.
Don't be distracted.
You're gonna get there.
Yeah, absolutely.
My dad always told me,
imagine you're the best driver,
but not everybody else is.
So you know back to the
question of Sro's though.
With we're in the school because
getting kids to school is impor.
They're not spending as much time at home.
But what are some of the things
that parents and just people
in the community should know
about how kids are staying
safe once they're in those
schools? So Fairfax County,
we've had Sro's since 1995.
We have 52 school resource offis
in our high schools and our
middle schools and we're really,
really proud about our reputatin
and the way that we we perform.
It takes a special type of person and
police officer to serve as an S,
and our Sro's serve as mentors,
coaches, friends, confidants.
And you know,
we're excited every time the spg
rolls around because inevitably
one of our school resource offis
is invited to be a commencement
speaker at a high school gradua.
So that speaks really well of
the quality of the program,
the quality of our Sro's.
Our Sro's really have eyes and
ears in the schools with our
public safety cadet program,
and not a lot of people know about that.
We have about 73 public safety cadets.
Sometimes they're called Explors
and other jurisdictions.
But in Fairfax County,
we have 73 public safety cadets
who are students in high school,
and they work a hand in hand
with our Sro's and teachers and
faculty and staff to keep those
environments safe as well.
Yeah, talking about just the force in
general, the department is markg
a $15,000 hiring incentive righw
to try to bring people on to the team.
What's the staffing look like compared to
what your workload is there in Griffin?
Well, Abby, a few months ago we put in our
biggest police Academy class since 2014,
So we feel like we have some momentum
and returning the corner in September,
we're putting an Academy class
in just a little bit bigger
than the one we just put in.
So another recordbreaking size of they're
really proud of our recruiting efforts.
Plus we're having some success recruiting and
attracting officers from other jurisdictions,
not just in Virginia but outside
the the Commonwealth as well.
So the the hiring bonus certainly helps.
It's not the end all be all.
I think young people who decide
to do this job want to come to a
place where where they're valued
and and their health is valued,
their Wellness is valued.
So we're really proud about alle
things we have to offer and we l
our recruits if if you invest i,
we will absolutely invest and y.
So the starting pay dramatic increase
thanks to our Board of Supervis.
If you're a college graduate,
you're starting in Fairfax Coun,
right around $70,000 a year
plus a $15,000 bonus.
Absolutely. I want to kind of sh
gears here to ask you about a sy
that got a lot of people's atten
last week about the Socalled Bid
Bandit apprehended the person wo
you may recall was seen wearing
a cowboy hat with two parrots,
patterned shirt and a third
parrot on his shoulder.
I understand this person
has been apprehended.
Did the public play any role in
bringing this person to justice?
So. So the Bird Bandit is in custody.
He's in custody in another jurisdiction.
He's going to be held accountabe
for the robbery that he committd
in Fairfax County with a knife d
with three parrots on his shoul.
I've been a police officer for 32 years.
The moment you think you've seen it all.
We haven't.
So there's obviously a story behind him,
but we we know who he is.
He's in custody in another
jurisdiction for unrelated crim.
And and he'll be held accountable for the
harm that he didn't in Fairfax County.
But certainly an unusual story.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis,
thank you so much for joining us
this afternoon. Thank you, Abby.