1 month ago
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The two Fairfax County police units that help look into threats to public officials and community members investigated or were consulted on over 800 threat cases in 2025, Police Chief Kevin Davis told WTOP.
The agency in the Northern Virginia suburb has a full-time Threat Assessment Management Team, a squad of detectives solely responsible for investigating threats. The group, Davis said, partners with the Criminal Intelligence Unit.
“Our society now, whether we like it or not, demands that law enforcement have a full-time dedication to threat assessment, and that’s something that’s very new,” Davis said.
The threats are typically not crimes, Davis said. Instead, they’re First Amendment-protected speech aimed at an elected official, community leader, someone in the business or health care communities.
The messages most commonly are sent via email, Davis said, but sometimes are delivered in written form.
“We know based on what the threat looks like that it’s not a criminal threat, but it’s a threatening correspondence,” Davis said.
In response to such cases, officers knock on doors with the help of mental health clinicians and officers who are trained in crisis intervention. During the interaction, Davis said officers can determine “if that person either wants or is in … need of mental or behavioral health assistance.”
“Law enforcement can’t afford to ignore it anymore and say, ‘Well, a crime hasn’t been committed yet,’” Davi...
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