Haymarket's Police Force Is Dwindling

The council was concerned that auxiliary officers, who work 16 to 20 hours a month, were overlapping their shifts with full-time officers, she said. The council voted unanimously to suspend the program, giving Police Chief James E. Roop until last Tuesday to present evidence on how the program could be run more efficiently.

But Tuesday came and went with no plan.

Roop said he requested more time to investigate further. He said he has no doubt the program will be restored. "The town is not going to cut off its nose to spite its face," Roop said.

In the meantime, the full-time force has also dwindled.

The council recently voted to fire Hoffman, who had been charged in December with standing guard at an illegal poker game in Fairfax County. Hoffman also prompted a sexual harassment investigation last summer against Roop and Sgt. Gregory Breeden, saying they created a hostile work environment by talking "about sex and women's body parts on a constant basis." Roop and Breeden were suspended for 15 days without pay.

"Now everyone involved in that investigation is no longer with the department, and the chief is still sitting there," Benjamin said.

So is Breeden, who in September lost the right to carry a gun after his estranged wife accused him of threatening the family and trying to break down a kitchen door with a hatchet.

On Friday, Roop said he and Breeden are "going to have the department back up and running professional like it was before all the turmoil." His priority, he said, is filling the two vacant full-time police positions by the end of the month.

In a Feb. 1 letter to the Town Council after Hoffman's termination, and before Officer Mike Thompson quit, Roop addressed the immediate need for more police presence.

"Over 200 overtime hours have been worked by the Town's officers to compensate for Officer Hoffman's suspension," he wrote. "Cumulatively, the officers of our department have over 630 hours of leave on the books, this translates to over 15 weeks of leave, which the officers are entitled to take should the need arise."

Stutz acknowledged that Haymarket is a growing town with a growing need. She described it as a "cut-through town," where a crash on Interstate 66 is immediately known because the town's roads fill with drivers looking to reroute. It's a town where the image of farmland has faded into one of construction. Five major development projects are underway.

"That has changed our whole perspective as far as the police force goes," Stutz said. "Am I concerned that we have three police officers now trying to handle our police department? Yes, that's why we are hiring."

Council member James Tobias said that although he finalized the language of the proposition suspending the program, he is "going to be one of the loudest speakers saying we need to bring it back."

"We need help in the town," Tobias said. "Soon it's going to spring again, and we're going to have long daylight hours and kids out later and all the problems that come with that."