2024 Police Report: Chief Cites Progress on Crime, Accreditation

Photo: Police Chief Shahram Fard. Source: 2024 Police Report, City of Falls Church Police Department

Police Chief Cites Progress on Crime, Accreditation

At the City Council meeting on July 14, 2025, Police Chief Shahram Fard presented to the City Council the 2024 Falls Church Police Department Annual Report.  This was the first report documenting Fard’s tenure since he started as the City’s police chief on January 1, 2024. 

Overall, the atmosphere of the presentation was positive. Council members rained praise on the still relatively new chief for what they described as improved crime and traffic statistics and dedication to professional training.

City Manager Wyatt Shield said, “I encourage everybody in the community to read this report. It is packed with information about trends that are happening, statistics, but also a lot of the news from the department about things that we’re undertaking in terms of how we grow and how we evolve as a department.”

The largest department in local government

The police department is the largest department in the City, excluding the public schools. Its FY2026 budget of $13.5 million constitutes 13% of the City’s budget, including the Falls Church Public Schools. Over 20% of the City’s employees work in public safety.

Crime trending in the right direction … mostly

Chief Fard put a positive spin on crime trends in the City in 2024. He noted that in 2020 the City moved to categorizing incidents according to the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) rather than the previous Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system. (A brief explanation of this system is provided in last year’s Pulse post Chief Issues Annual Police Report, Seeks To Restore Department Accreditation, November 15, 2024.

Overall, more serious “Type A” incidents (robberies, assaults, rapes, etc.) under the NIBRS rubric decreased from 551 n 2023 to 513 in 2024, while arrests for Type B incidents (loitering, disorderly conduct, DUI, etc.) remained roughly the same.  However, a closer look at the data showed that Group A offenses “crimes against persons,” increased 15% from 2023 to 2024, largely driven by an increase in arrests for misdemeanor simple assaults. While serious property crimes decreased, there was a significant increase in arrests for possession of pornography and obscene materials.

With respect to crime, Chief Fard said, “Our response remains swift and thorough, as seen in cases like the … arrest in the high-profile stabbing incident involving a family pet named Lucy early last year.” During that incident, the attacker attempted to stab both Lucy’s owner and an intervening bystander. The attacker was eventually arrested, but unfortunately Lucy’s wounds were fatal. Chief Fard added, “Overall, I can report that crime in Falls Church is down and safety is up.” He attributed the reduction to proactive policing and community vigilance.

As Mayor Letty Hardi noted during the question period, the decreases in crime in Falls Church occurred in the context of falling crime rates in the region and the nation as a whole.

Traffic: Fewer crashes, more fines

Chief Fard said he has made traffic safety a priority for the Police Department and that traffic stops increased from 2,856 in 2023 to 3,311 in 2024. He added that the “visible presence” of police officers helped drive a 29% decrease in crashes from 138 in 2023 to 98 in 2024. (According to Virginia DMV statistics, the number of crashes in Virginia as a whole rose by 1.3%.)

A map that accompanies the published report shows five hotspots for accidents, with other incidents spread throughout the City.

Chief Fard also alluded briefly to the Photo Enforcement Safety Program and the September 2024 implementation of the School Zone Speed Safety program. The published report indicates an increase in Red Light Camera Citations and a decrease in school bus stop arm citations. The School Zone Speed Safety began with a 30-day warning period when only warnings were issued.  On October 1, the program went “live,” and from October 1 through December 31, the police issued 4,171 citations. 

This increase in citations is reflected in the FY2025 budget. At the City Council Budget and Finance Committee meeting, June 26, 2025, staff projected over $1 million in fines and forfeitures to be collected for the year ending June 30, 2025, in the FY2025 Revenue Report for May 2025, $500,000 above budget expectations. No breakdown was given, but traffic citations and parking fines typically account for the majority of these incidents. For FY2026, all fines and forfeitures are budgeted at $737,000 with $515,000 from photo enforcement fees and $110,000 from parking fees. The remainder are from court fines and forfeitures.

Building community trust is a priority

Chief Fard stressed the importance of community outreach in building trust between the Police Department and City residents. He mentioned the gun buyback event held jointly with Arlington County, where $20,000 in donated gift cards were distributed to 65 residents who turned in 134 firearms for destruction. He also noted the continued success of the School Resource Officer Program, which was seconded by members of the City Council.

The police chief also discussed the return to Falls Church of the “National Night Out,” which provided an opportunity for the community to interact directly with Department officers. Finally, he noted that the Community Police Academy this past Spring has been successful and will be mentioned in the Police Department’s 2025 report.

Professional development

Chief Fard said that the Police Department had sharply increased training for Department officers and civilians. In 2024, the Department created a Professional Development Manager position, and staff attended more than 4,350 hours of training. He said these efforts continue, and training will be further expanded in 2025.

Accreditation

In reply to a question from Council Member Justine Underhill, Chief Fard discussed the status of accreditation efforts, which are also described in the 2024 report.  He said that in November 2024, the Department formally signed on with the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), which Chief Fard described as the “gold standard” of accreditation.

He said that accreditation with CALEA is a three-year process, beginning with review and revision of all the Department’s General Orders to incorporate more than 170 CALEA professional standards. So far, he added, the Department has written and published 21 new General Orders and is currently working on another 12 General Orders.

Administrative investigations

Council Member Erin Flynn praised the Police Department for publishing a summary of the results of administrative investigations, “not all of which were exonerations,” which she said cultivates an atmosphere of accountability in the Police Department.

The report indicates that there were 18 administrative investigations, nine of which were reported internally and nine externally. Six of these 18 investigations were exonerations, and 12 were sustained, with punishments ranging from reprimands to, in one case, a recommendation for termination.  In the last case, the officer resigned and was decertified by the State.

References:

Images in this post are from the 2024 Annual Report of the Falls Church Police Department.

• 2024 Annual Report, City of Falls Church Police Department.
• City Council meeting, July 14, 2025. This official video will not display properly on a small screen as it includes the agenda.
• City Council meeting, July 14, 2025. YouTube video.