Stresses public trust: Fairfax sniper-case cop named Albemarle police chief
New Albemarle police chief Steve Sellers starts work January 18. PUBLICITY PHOTO
Fairfax Deputy Police Chief Steve Sellers will be the next Albemarle County Police chief, county exec Bob Tucker announced Monday..
Sellers, a 28-year-veteran of the Fairfax County, has led the investigations division for Fairfax including heading a task force that successfully investigated snipers John Mohammed and Lee Malvo, who terrorized Northern Virginia in 2002.
Sellers succeeds John Miller, who retired September 30 after 21 years as chief.
“We are very happy to bring someone of Steve Sellers’ caliber,” says Tucker in a release.
Sellers, 49, says he's wanted to be in law enforcement since he was five years old. He got both his B.A. in business administration and master's in public administration at Virginia Tech. He's also a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Although the population of Fairfax recently topped the one million mark (to Albemarle's less than 100,000), Sellers says Albemarle and Fairfax share similar demographics as far as an educated population. The two jurisdictions also face similar crime trends, economic uncertainty, and traffic issues.
"There's a lot," he says, "I can transfer from Fairfax."
In November, two of Albemarle's six supervisors said that personal integrity would be an important quality they'd seek in a new chief. Earlier this year, in March, four officers were disciplined for unspecified “inappropriate” behavior “while on the clock.”
"I don't support or condone any behavior that erodes the public trust," says Sellers. "I have 28 years with a highly regarded, ethically sound police department. Truthfulness is an absolute must. Truthfulness, integrity, and public trust are very high on the list."
11 comments
I think Sellers's assessment of the Fairfax County Police Department is a bit off. Rather than the "highly regarded, ethically sound police department" as he terms it, the Fx Co police have some serious problems. Those problems prompted a group of citizens to form a coalition AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE to investigate Fairfax County Police Department misconduct and a lack of transparency. The complaints include the FCPD not providing information to RELATIVES of people killed (yes, killed) by the FCPD. You can view the Coalition's web site at .
BTW, I sent this information to Lisa Provence but I have not heard from her yet.
That's what I was looking for in a City Manger. Wonder if we could trade.
Well, everyone else from Northern freaking Virginia has moved here in the past twenty five years, why not a few more. I call UVA the University of Northern VA at Charlottesville. Good luck Stevo Sellers!
That headline is abysmal. Please consult a style book and rethink. Then rewrite.
Even though I am not a county resident, I suppose I'm tickled to death with this choice. Had they appointed somebody from within, nothing would improve, nothing would change. Sellers has his work cut out for him, people want the department and their reputation cleaned up. Heck, even most of the decent, honest and hard working officers want this as well.
Paging GSOE--any thoughts?
Wow, he's ruddy.
The new police chief says:
"Truthfulness is an absolute must. Truthfulness, integrity, and public trust are very high on the list.”
Sounds like they hired the right guy....but he's soon going to discover that among many in county "leadership," truth, integrity and trust are in short supply.
I'm not sure why Bigfoot ate my link but it is:
virginiaccpa and it is an org.
Deleted by moderator.
Why would a new hire hire have to stress ââ?¬Å?Truthfulness is an absolute must. Truthfulness, integrity, and public trust are very high on the list.”
Those are a given for the position- kind of like someone saying "trust me"......shouldn't I have been trusting you all along?