Cops within the department blame low wages for the mass exodus.
04/28/21 – Underpaid and underappreciated, cops in Fairfax County, Virginia, are asking, Why would people want to do this job?
Fairfax County Police Department is down 188 officers, according to Sean Corcoran, president of the Fairfax County Coalition of Police. Officers eligible for retirement are leaving, others are getting out to join higher paying federal agencies like the Capitol Police. The numbers are horrific, says Corcoran.
According to the Fairfax County Fraternal Order of Police, the average starting salary for a Fairfax County cop is $52,000. The median household income in the county was $124,831 in 2019.
The cash bond often ranges between a few hundred dollars to a few thousand.
Descano will begin ordering his assistant prosecutors to avoid cash bails for every single offender.
Instead of offering bail, that person will be free until their trial, unless they are considered a threat to the community or a flight risk. If deemed a risk, that person would still be sentenced to pre-trial jail. Under a cash bail system, whether a person sleeps at home or in a cell can be determined solely by how much money they have, Descano said. Even a small cash bail amount has the potential to wreak havoc.