Loudoun Crime Commission

#FraudFriday - This afternoon, members of the LCSO attended the Loudoun Crime Commission meeting and learned about cyber security. The guest speaker Mark Grantz, Vice President at PNC Bank, talked about cyber security for your home and small business. Here are a couple of suggestions that he provided to help protect your home network. 💻Change the default name and password of your home network. 💻Limit access to your wireless network. 💻Create a home guest network. 💻Turn on WiFi network encryption. 💻Turn on your router firewall. 💻Turn off your WiFi network when you leave home. 💻Update your router's firmware. 💻Disable remote access. Please visit FTC.gov for more tips!

Retired DEA Special Agent Terry Cole, Assistant Regional Director for Mexico, briefed the Loudoun Crime Commission today in Ashburn concerning the current drug threat facing the United States. Mr. Cole detailed the drug organizations, their personal security forces, and the myriad of politics surrounding Mexico’s drug trade. Pictured with Terry Cole and Sheriff Chapman are former DEA Special Agents Marty Pracht and Richie Fiano - who also served as LCSO’s Major in charge of Criminal investigations.

Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman joined Leesburg Police Department, Leesburg VA Chief Greg Brown, Middleburg Police Department Department Chief AJ Panebianco, Purcellville Police Department Deputy Chief Dave Dailey, and Virginia State Police Captain J-P. N. Koushel for the 9th Annual Loudoun Crime Commission State of Law Enforcement in #Loudoun County Forum. Sheriff Chapman highlighted the LCSO’s efforts to combat crime, including local, state and federal partnerships He noted that Loudoun County saw a 32% decrease in the county’s crime rate between 2012 and 2018. This reduction in crime continues despite the continued growth of Loudoun, which saw over 66-thousand new residents during the same time period. Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office reported the lowest crime rate in Northern Virginia according to the 2019 Annual Report on Crime and Crime Control released by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG). Loudoun also saw the second lowest crime rates in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Region Preliminary numbers indicate the continued decrease in serious crime, with Part 1 crimes decreasing 4% and violent crime down 8% in 2019 compared to 2018. This past year we initiated several public safety campaigns and programs to ensure the safety and well-being of our residents. As the safety of our schools is a top priority, we announced the availability of a free downloadable app called Safe2Talk. The app can be used by students, parents, teachers, and residents to anonymously report safety concerns in our schools so they can be immediately addressed. As news headlines broke regarding a surge in va**ng-related illnesses, we released an informational video in an effort to educate the public on the potential health concerns with these devices among our youth. The campaign included the continuation of a series of educational forums on va**ng with Loudoun County Public Schools throughout the county. After years of urging the Virginia General Assembly to amend the Improper Driving statute language, we successfully improved a serious gap in the Virginia Motor Code. By amending traffic ordinances at the local level, our deputies now have the discretion to issue a summons instead of Reckless Driving – a Class 1 misdemeanor - when investigating a minor crash. Previously, the charge of Reckless Driving could only be reduced to Improper Driving, a less serious charge, by a judge or at the request of the Commonwealth Attorney. The amendments relieve our deputies of the current state code constraints and provide drivers a much fairer legal recourse. Through the great work of our deputies and civilian staff, we continue to receive local, state and national recognition. This year, Deputy First Class Colin Whittington was named the Virginia Deputy Sheriff of the Year by the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association. He is the third LCSO deputy to receive this recognition in the past five years. Sheriff Chapman notes his work on several committees at the national level, including Vice-President of Homeland Security for the Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA), Chairman for Homeland Security for the National Sheriffs’ Association, and on the D.A.R.E. Executive Law Enforcement Advisory Board. There were also a number of firsts in 2019 for the LCSO: We were the first agency in Northern Virginia to receive training in Sources of Strength, an evidence-led youth su***de prevention program. The program is conducted by the Ryan Bartel Foundation founded by the Bartel family after their son’s tragic death by su***de at age 17 when he was a senior at Woodgrove High School in Purcellville. We also held the first-ever three-day Advanced Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) in the Commonwealth of Virginia in October. We have become a leader both regionally and nationally in CIT training with personnel from across the country and overseas traveling to participate in our training. The LCSO CIT program has trained over 600 personnel from the local, state, and federal levels. We continue to be overwhelmed by your generous support in several giving campaigns. This fall, we once-again participated in No-Shave November. Loudoun residents helped us raise over $24,000 for cancer research and prevention. We were the highest fundraising law enforcement agency as part of No-Shave.org. In the past three years, Loudoun residents have helped us raise over $55,000 for cancer research and prevention. Residents also helped us collect over 2500 toys for our annual Santa Ride for Cole’s Closet for children who are hospitalized during the holidays. This is the largest number of toys we have ever collected and the largest donation ever received by Cole’s Closet.