The City of Fairfax is ramping up security in three areas in the city as part of a pilot program to provide greater protection for community members in high crime areas and offer resources to unhoused individuals.
The eight-week-long pilot program requires unarmed, uniformed security guards to patrol the areas of Draper and Stafford Drive parks and the Old Town Business District. Guards will patrol the business district on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the parks from 3p.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
“The guards are really there just to proactively keep an eye on everything, act as a resource for businesses and for people experiencing homelessness,” Allison Goldberg said.
The program is a collaboration between the city and local police, and the locations were selected by concerned community members.
Last year, the city established a homelessness task force to address concerns about and provide resources for unhoused individuals in the area, as the county has seen an overall 23% increase in homelessness since 2020, according to a report from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. In September, the county cleared a homeless encampment near the Inova Emergency Room in Reston.
About 1,300 people experience homelessness in the county, city officials say, but local nonprofits argue the number has grown since the initial report from the beginning of the year.
“While the community is concerned about crime, there is also the larger humanitarian aspect of their concern,” Goldberg said.
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The task force allocated $50,000 to pay for the program and resources for the unhoused community. Robert Pearson, who works in the city, said he feels the area is safe and hopes the program can provide resources to unhoused community members.
“I haven’t noticed any overt issues with unhoused people in this area, but I have noticed that they are here and they do require help,” Pearson said.
The City of Fairfax Police Department recently completed another safety initiative in a different part of the city, which led to a 14% reduction in crimes like theft, assault and trespassing.
The pilot program ends Dec. 22 when the city and police will decide whether they continue the program.
