When Rob Brown leaves for work, he gets in his car, turns on the radio and drives for almost two hours.
The Sheriff’s Office deputy, who grew up in Loudoun County, now lives in Frederick County, Md.
"I always thought after I got my first job, I’d buy a home in Loudoun," Brown said. "But when I went to look, there were only two properties in the entire county within the price range I qualified for."
Kraig Troxell, spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office, said approximately 50 percent of sworn employees live outside the county.
"I don’t get a chance to interact with people in the community I work. A place I’ve always considered a home," Brown said. "I do my grocery shopping and run errands in Maryland. I’m developing relationships with people I don’t serve."
THE LACK OF affordable housing is something that plagues the Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Steve Simpson said the high cost of homes in the area makes recruiting new deputies from the area a difficult one. The Sheriff’s Office competes with other departments in Arlington and Alexandria who can offer their deputies higher salaries.
A Sheriff’s Office deputy makes $38,507 prior to graduating the academy. The deputy receives a $2,000 increase upon completion of training, Troxell said.
"They want to come, we want them here, but when they look at the housing costs, there is just no way," Simpson said. "So we lose them to places like Arlington and Alexandria."
For deputies like Brown who want to work for the Sheriff’s Office, but cannot afford to live in the county, they are forced to move to places like Fredrick County, Md., where they can afford to buy a home.
"I’ve always considered this place my home," he said. "Now I feel like I’m being forced out."
WHILE MANY DEPUTIES are being forced to live outside the county, the sheriff said he is still trying to maintain a "community policing" philosophy.
When Simpson began with the Sheriff’s Office 20 years ago, he said deputies were an integral part in the community in uniform and out.
"They were involved in after-school activities, they were coaches, they went to your church," he said. "Now, it’s just a job. At 5:30 [p.m.], they go back across the mountain. They’re engaging in activities in communities in places like Winchester, Pennsylvania. They have nothing to do with Loudoun County and they don’t have an invested interest in the community."
Brown said he wishes he could be more involved with the community, especially the youth, but it costs too much money to fill up his tank on his days off.
"That’s an extra two or three hours on the road," he said. "I just don’t have the money to do that."
SIMPSON IS ALSO concerned with the amount of time it takes deputies to reach their communities, especially in an emergency.
"You’re talking at least an hour," Simpson said.
With about half of the deputies living outside the county, the sheriff said he is concerned about how well prepared the county is if a disaster strikes.
"If something big happens, this could be an issue," Simpson said. "Even if the weather gets bad, we need deputies to get here to relieve people who have been there for 12 hours."
In order to fix the problem, Simpson said something needs to be done at the county government level. Only a few years ago, about 40 percent of deputies lived outside the county.
"Now we’re up to 50 [percent]," he said. "It’s only getting worse."