Fairfax County police on March 17 encouraged faith leaders to request a security survey for their houses of worship. These surveys, which have been offered for years, assess a house of worship’s security to verify its current security level, modify policies if needed and offer ways to improve security.
There hasn’t been an increase in bias-related crimes in Fairfax County, but there has been a rising trend of bias-related crimes across the country, county police said.
To request a security survey, houses of worship can reach out to the crime-prevention or community-outreach officers at whichever of the police department’s eight district stations serves the place of worship.
Most surveys only take a couple of hours, but that depends on the size of the property. Police prefer that the facility be open during the survey, so the entire property may be accessed.
