INTERVIEW — Fairfax County Police Chief Col. Edwin Roessler Jr. – discussed the latest on the rise of Fairfax County gang activity.

• Police Chief told Fairfax officials that they are seeing “active recruitment in schools.”
• Gang activity has been rising across the Washington, D.C., region lately. There have been at least five gang-related homicides since last fall, according to our Police Department. These murders are the primary focus for the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force, as well as our Police Department, which has a gang investigations unit that examines all gang-associated crime.
• (Fox 5) — Most of the gang members are from South America. He said that most lack a sense of family and that most engaged in these violent crimes have no sense of remorse or guilt. Roessler said that the county is working with school resource officers on intervention and prevention methods to keep young people safe. He says there is sometimes a gap between the police department and community members who he says might feel that by cooperating with police they may expose themselves to immigrations law enforcement. “Don’t be afraid to call the police department in Fairfax County. We need to stop the criminal activity at the lowest levels and get our youth involved in positive programs,” Roessler said. “What I can tell you is that these murders are brutal and savage,” Roessler added.