Members of Leesburg Police Department threaten to quit over proposed vaccine mandate

Police officers in Leesburg, Virginia, spoke out during a town council meeting about what could happen if the coronavirus vaccine is mandated.

Leesburg Police Department employee Josh Carter said during a town council meeting that the town could lose several police officers if they are required to get the coronavirus vaccine.



“If you decide to move forward with mandating this vaccine, the loss of officers is on you and I’m going to come back and ask what your plan is to keep my family and my neighbors safe, with little to no officers patrolling our streets or our schools,” Carter said.

The proposed policy would require all employees and certain contractors of the town to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

They would get a 90-day notice if approved.

Leesburg Police Department employee William Butterfield says he will be seeking other employment if the coronavirus vaccine is mandated.

“You guys will be losing a lot of money that you invested in me that I very gratefully appreciate you guys doing, but we’d be losing that and a lot of really good officers like me that will be doing the same thing,” Butterfield said.

Carter also said that he believed it could be a widespread issue for the police department.
“This decision has the potential to decimate LPD. Our town could lose a lot of amazing police officers,” he said.

More Coronavirus news

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.

Valerie Bonk

Valerie Bonk started working at WTOP in 2016 and has lived in Howard County, Maryland, her entire life. She's thrilled to be a reporter for WTOP telling stories on air. She works as both a television and radio reporter in the Maryland and D.C. areas. 

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up