STUDY: Loudoun County Explores Replacing Sheriff’s Office with Police Department

Tuesday night, the public got their first review of a new study on what would involved in transitioning the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office into a police department. The meeting held last night by county supervisors served as the official release of study conducted over the past year by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Setting the stage: the debate has raged for years as to whether Loudoun County should transition away from their current sheriff’s office and move toward a police department model. Under current state law the county is required to have a sheriff’s department but could choose to add a police department while the sheriff’s office would continue to operate the county jail and court services.

What the report found: the transition would cost Loudoun County an estimated $200-$300 million and would be a 10-year process.

What Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said: “It’s really an unnecessary thing … “We’re talking anywhere from $213 to almost $308 million over a 10 year period to actually have to create a police department and migrate the services over to a police department.” He also referenced the cities low crime rates as a reflection of his office’s exceptional work in the community. “This isn’t about service,” he said. “It isn’t about citizens. This is just about having power over a police chief rather than having a sheriff that answers directly to the citizens we serve.”

What’s next: the study released to the public on Tuesday will be presented to the board on April 5^th. A vote is not anticipated at that time, but a failure by the board to move forward with the issue would result in it being sent to the voters of Loudoun County via ballot measure.