Fairfax County Police officers Phil Edwards and Sheri Cook shifted gears recently as the new crime-prevention team at the Franconia District Station, filling a slot left by Officer Ed O'Carroll, who was promoted to sergeant.
Both officers are attending several training sessions in the next few weeks to hone their Crime Prevention Program in the Franconia area. Both have served 13 years as police officers, so nothing surprises them.
"The goal is to increase services with the community. Neighborhood Watch is a big one," Edwards said.
EDWARDS HAS HAD 13 YEARS in law enforcement, five years with the District of Columbia police force and eight years with Fairfax County. Cook left the Franconia Police bike team right before Edwards started as a bike officer in 1998.
"As a bike officer, we did a lot of stuff Ed did," Edwards said.
Cresswell feels the bike-team experience gives them another edge.
"All our bike-team officers are community policing officers," he said.
Not being mobile on two wheels will be a change, he admitted. The semi-consistent schedule will be to his advantage, though.
"It's going to be different, that's for sure," Edwards added.
Schedule consistency was a factor for Cook, too.
"This is more like an office job," she said.
Picking up where Officer O'Carroll left off was the easy part, according to Edwards. O'Carroll was also a crime-prevention officer at the West Springfield District station before coming to Franconia.
"The network that he's built is wonderful. He's kind of a guru in the department," said Edwards.
COOK'S LAW-enforcement influence goes back to her childhood, when her father was in the FBI. His stories laid the groundwork that piqued her interest.
"He always had a lot of neat stories to tell me," she said.
The stories weren't the only thing; she had a conscientious motivation, as well.
"I like helping people. I've always believed it's important to treat people the way you want to be treated," she said.
Lt. Frank Cresswell is the crime-prevention coordinator for the 12 full-time crime-prevention officers in the county. He noted the general purpose of the crime-prevention philosophy, which utilizes programs such as home security, personal safety and vehicle identification number (VIN) etching for vehicle identification.
Most stations are going to two full-time crime-prevention officers. In addition to O'Carroll at Franconia, Officer Ron Manso filled in on a part-time basis. He is moving on to a detective position.
"They are specifically stationed for the citizens to reduce crime, reduce the opportunity," Cresswell said.
Cook felt early prevention was a factor in the position, as well.
"If we can get out there and help people be aware before it happens. Anything we can do to help them avoid becoming a victim of a crime," she said.
Some of the training Cresswell had Cook and Edwards signed up for included alarm school, locksmith school and lighting school.
"There's going to be a lot of specialty schools," he said.
Officer Ed O'Carroll is in the process of being promoted to sergeant and hopes to stay at Franconia. He's worked with Cook and Edwards through the years.
"They can bring their experiences to crime prevention," he said.