WASHINGTON — Election Day is Nov. 3, and the Fairfax County sheriff’s race features the same two candidates who ran in 2013 — incumbent Stacey Kincaid and challenger Bryan Wolfe.
One of the biggest issues this time around is reaction to in-custody death of a schizophrenic inmate. Earlier this month, prosecutors announced they won’t file charges in the case of Natasha McKenna, who was a prisoner at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center when she died in February.
Wolfe, a former Fairfax City police officer who served in law enforcement for 30 years, says the sheriff has not done either of the two things he advocated for during the last campaign. One is more crisis intervention training for deputies, which Wolfe says he believes would have helped in the McKenna case.
“She’s had two years to bring that up,” he says.
But Sheriff Kincaid says her deputies are undergoing the training. “At this point, it’s going to take a while because you’re talking about training 25 percent of our staff,” she says.
Wolfe also talked two years ago about the detention center’s ability to record video. He says this continues to be an issue.
Sheriff Kincaid defends her record, saying she requested money for a security system and camera upgrade in 2014, and that a vendor is doing a study. But she maintains that the upgrade is complicated and will cost about $10 million.
Kincaid explains that three areas of the jail will need to be able to communicate with each other. And some parts of the jail do not have cameras, she says, but this will be addressed as part of the security upgrade.
The sheriff argues staff need more than crisis intervention training, since 40 percent of the jail population is suffering from some type of mental illness.
“We’re focused on funding for crisis intervention training and diversion programs, and this is where we’re working with a community collaborative for mental health and justice. We are working to find a long-term solution to the incarceration of the mentally ill,” she says.
Sheriff Kincaid says that this approach involves working with mental health advocates, county executives, community organizations and local legislators to implement and fund crisis-care centers so that mentally ill people get help they need instead of ending up in jail.
