Loudoun County Sheriff's Office

The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) is the primary law enforcement agency within Loudoun County, Virginia and is the largest Sheriff's Office in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Loudoun County Sheriff's Office
Common nameLoudoun County Sheriff
AbbreviationLCSO
Agency overview
Employees794
Annual budget$87.9 million
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionLoudoun, Virginia, U.S.
Map of Loudoun County Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction.
Size521 square miles (1,350 km2)
Population374,062
Legal jurisdictionLoudoun County
Governing bodyCounty (United States)
Constituting instrument
  • Yes
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersLeesburg, Virginia
Deputies584
Civilians210
Agency executive
Website
Official Website

Organization

The agency is currently headed by Sheriff Michael L. Chapman who was last re-elected in 2019.

  • Adult Crime Prevention Unit The Adult Crime Prevention Unit offers many programs to assist and train the community in many aspects of crime prevention.
  • Sheriff's Auxiliary Auxiliary personnel provide services during public service events and assist law enforcement personnel in the performance of their duties.
  • Juvenile Crime Prevention/D.A.R.E. The Juvenile Crime Prevention/D.A.R.E offers many programs to assist and train children in many aspects of crime prevention.
  • Sheriff's Emergency Response Team (SERT) The SERT Team activates for hostage and/or barricaded persons, sniper incidents, ambush attacks, and to resolve any special, high risk situation task.
  • Hostage Negotiations Team The Hostage Negotiation Team is responsible for conducting negotiations with perpetrators of incidents involving hostages, barricaded persons or situations where negotiations could prevent serious injury or the loss of life.
  • Traffic Safety Unit The Traffic Safety Unit is composed of the Accident Reconstruction Unit, Motorcycle Squad, and the Motor Carrier Safety Inspection Team.
  • Dive Team The dive team aids in the search and rescue of victims of water-related accidents; and assists in the search and recovery of evidential items from bodies of water.
  • Bicycle Patrol Team The Bicycle Patrol Team's focus is on building a better relationship with the public by getting out in the neighborhoods and focusing on the community's needs.
  • Crossing Guard Program
  • Identification The Identification team focuses on evidence recovery, collection, and preservation, evidence processing, photographic documentation, latent examinations, and fingerprint/photograph file maintenance.
  • Canine Team The K-9 Unit is assigned to the Special Operations Division and supports of the other divisions of the Sheriffs Office.
  • Computer Forensics Section The Computer Forensics Team focuses on computer-involved criminal investigations, computer seizures, data recovery/preservation, and documentation of evidential data.
  • Project Fairness Project Fairness enforces the compliance of displaying a valid decal throughout the county
  • Crime Scene Technicians
  • Civil Disturbance Response Team [1]

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, 1 officer has died in the line of duty.[2]

Potential Transition to Police Department

Shortly after being re-elected in 2019, Chairwoman Phyllis Randall proposed transitioning policing to a new police department while the sheriff would only be responsible for court related duties as is done in Prince William County and Fairfax County. Randall says the reason she is proposing this is "I just simply don’t believe that law enforcement should be political." [3] However Sheriff Michael L. Chapman has stated that "[Loudoun Residents] are happy with the service they are getting, and it’s almost like, 'Why is there going to be a move to try and fix something that’s not broken?' it just seems to me to be a matter of just exercising power and control." [4]

In 2012, the Board of Supervisors asked for a report about a potential transition and the commission responsible strongly recommended keeping the current system citing decreased state funding due to low crime rates and the idea that a police chief would be equally political when appointed.[5]

To implement a police department a referendum is required and must be approved by voters in the county and enacted by the General Assembly.[6][7]

See also

References
  1. "Loudoun County Sheriff's Office - Special Operations Division". Archived from the original on May 27, 2010.
  2. "Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, VA". The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP).
  3. Cline, Nathaniel (November 6, 2019). "New elected officials take the stage in Loudoun County; Randall expects new board to discuss county police department". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  4. Cline, Nathaniel (November 8, 2019). "Loudoun County sheriff calls police department proposal 'a matter of exercising power and control'". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  5. "Loudoun County Government Reform Commission Memorandum". November 1, 2012.
  6. "§ 15.2-1702. Referendum required prior to establishment of county police force". law.lis.virginia.gov.
  7. Cline, Nathaniel (December 26, 2019). "Questions and answers about a potential Loudoun County Police Department". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
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