A new crime-fighting strategy in Northern Virginia that Fairfax County police unveiled Tuesday focuses on dedicating more time and resources to the investigation and prosecution of convicted felons who have guns illegally.
The initiative aims to enhance the ability of law enforcement to investigate such cases and bring them to court successfully.
“We think it’s going to make our community safer,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said. “People who illegally carry firearms are more prone to go to that firearm when they’re engaged in an otherwise petty dispute, and things spiral out of control.”
Once someone is convicted of a felony in Virginia, they lose their right to own a firearm.
According to Davis, his department will work closely with Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano in creating a more focused strategy on cases involving convicted felons who have guns.
The initiative will allow experienced detectives and prosecutors to work together on such cases.
According to Davis, the goals include reducing gun violence, identifying sources of firearms for convicted felons, deterring felons from possessing firearms and improving prosecutorial outcomes.
“Our commitment is to have our very best detectives from our special investigation unit partnering with several prosecutors that are going to be hand-selected by Mr. Descano and his team to bring these arrests into a courtroom and to realize better successes for public safety,” Davis said.
There will be approximately six detectives involved in the initiative along with a team of four prosecutors, Davis and Descano announced.
“There’s going to be improved coordination when it comes to investigation and prosecution,” Descano said. “We are endeavoring to really take a high level multi-pronged approach to the scourge of gun violence.”
According to Davis, Fairfax County police officers arrested about 80 convicted felons for having guns over the course of 2023.
“That’s about the number of cases that we anticipate we’ll see in 2024,” Davis said. “A year from now, we’ll hopefully be touting some good success stories.”
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