Falls Church police outline FY26 budget priorities: accreditation, staffing study and end to two red‑light camera sites

Chief of Police Sharam Ford told the City Council the Falls Church public safety FY26 budget proposal would be roughly $13.5 million and would prioritize accreditation work, updated technology and patrol staffing adjustments.

Ford said the FY26 public safety budget is approximately $13,500,000, a 9.66 percent increase over FY25, and the police department’s share of that total is about $11,800,000 (a 9.24 percent increase). The increases reflect planned investments in personnel, technology and interjurisdictional contracts, Ford said.

On accountability and accreditation, Ford said the department will permanently fund a professional‑standards manager position and continue the three‑year Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) process. “This is an integral to our national accreditation efforts…a key priority for the council, the community and as well for our department,” Ford said. He said the accreditation review will be an open, multiyear process and the department expects a final independent assessment in about 2½–3 years.

Technology and traffic enforcement were major themes. Ford reported that Falls Church’s automated programs — new speed cameras, red‑light cameras and school‑bus stop‑arm cameras — issued nearly 7,500 citations in 2024. He said the police department has completed an evaluation of the city’s photo red‑light program at two Broad Street intersections (Broad & Cherry and Broad & Heindale) and believes the program achieved its safety goals. Because the vendor contract is expiring, Ford said he had recommended to the city manager that the city end the photo red‑light enforcement program and focus enforcement dollars on speed cameras and the school‑bus stop‑arm program.

“Last year council requested that we evaluate the program at the 2 locations…we don't really feel like it still needs to be there. It met its intended goals of reducing crashes at those 2 locations,” Ford told council.

Ford also reported enforcement totals for 2024: 3,331 traffic citations issued — an 18 percent increase over the previous year — and department patrol officers responded to nearly 31,000 calls for service. He said patrol remains the backbone of operations and highlighted investments to replace aging body‑worn cameras and in‑car video systems, upgrade mobile computer terminals, and maintain staffing levels for special events.

On staffing, Ford described continuing shortfalls and asked council for a workload‑based staffing study. He said the department recommended adding four officers to the patrol staffing model to address shift relief but that council approved two of the four last year and one additional position was added for the school resource officer program. Ford said three sworn vacancies existed at the time of the session and that small agencies often assign background investigations and other administrative duties to line officers, which increases overtime and strains capacity.

Ford said a third‑party workload staffing study would be open to public engagement and would examine sworn and support staffing priorities, with particular attention to peak workload periods and officer safety and wellness. The police chief said the department would seek consultant support to complete the study.

Why this matters: The FY26 police budget proposal funds long‑running department priorities — accreditation, equipment replacement, and traffic safety programs — and it signals a policy shift on photo red‑light enforcement at two intersections. Councilmembers asked for additional data on citation volumes at the two red‑light locations and stressed the need to weigh safety outcomes before ending the program.

Council next steps: Ford said he would provide additional crash and citation data for the targeted intersections and the department will pursue the workload staffing study with consultant support and public engagement.