Centreville — The Fairfax County Police Department was recently recognized by two law enforcement organizations which evaluate police traffic safety programs across the Commonwealth and the nation.
Virginia Association of the Chiefs of Police awarded its Underage Alcohol special category award for FCPD efforts to deter youth involvement with alcohol. These efforts include working jointly with the Fairfax County Unified Prevention Coalition on their Driving to Reduce Underage and Binge Drinking campaign, holding undercover buying operations, and strict DUI enforcement initiatives such as “Safe December,” sobriety checkpoints and weekly “six pack” patrols.
The VACP also recognized FCPD efforts in the Commercial Motor Vehicle category. A team of FCPD Motor Carrier Safety detectives inspect commercial vehicles within Fairfax County borders and routinely remove unsafe vehicles from the roadways. Officers are certified by the U.S. Department of Transportation and have received specific training from the Office of Federal Motor Carriers. Each of these officers is equipped with tools, towing equipment and chainsaws to respond to calls involving these large, heavy vehicles.
International Association of the Chiefs of Police presented its Chiefs Challenge Award second in the nation for FCPD underage alcohol efforts.
FCPD officers responded to more than 474,500 calls for service in 2011. Of those, almost half (224,578) were responses to traffic incidents. Learn more about FCPD Traffic Safety initiatives at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/traffic/.