Reston District Station Commander Burnett Ready For Next Chapter

When Deborah Burnett began her  law enforcement career in 1982, there were a handful of women Fairfax County Police officers. More than 28 years later, Burnett is wrapping up her service to the county as one of the highest-ranking women in the department.

Capt. Burnett, commander of the will turn 50 next week. The week after that, she is retiring as the only female commander among the eight district stations. Capt. Burnett has been in charge of 137 staffers at Reston District Station for nearly five years, which in county police terms is a long tenure.

"She's the only captain I have ever known," says Sharon Boyd Graham, a police communications aide. "We are really going to miss her."

Burnett, who started as a patrol officer in the Mount Vernon District Station, says she hopes she has been a role model for others during her long career.

"When I started in 1982, I think there were two women at the station," she said. "Now, it is about 11-12 percent women. I hope I have been a role model. Women are so well integrated [on the force] now at all levels - we have women officers, women detectives."

Burnett, who graduated from Woodbridge High School, says she thought she would go into the travel business. However, as a student at Northern Virginia Community College, she took some criminal justice courses. After a couple of ride-alongs with officers in Prince William County and Washington, D.C., she says she found her new career path.

Burnett says one of the biggest changes on police work since then has been technology. It has changed the way officers report, respond and investigate crime.

"Back then, we didn't have a computer in the car - we didn't even have computers," she said. "Technology has really changed police work."

Burnett says she has enjoyed working at the Reston District Station. She says the business community and citizens have been supportive of the officers.

"There are challenges, yes," she says. "There are traffic issues that impact us every day. Certainly there are trends that emerge such as burglaries and issues on the paths. There are specific pockets of the area where we have really done a lot of reduce quality-of-life crimes. We have reduced traffic accidents across the board. Crime prevention efforts are really critical."

Fairfax County Police Chief David Rohrer says Burnett's engagement with the community has helped the department's mission.

"I believe her strongest attribute was the spirit and abilities with which she embraced community policing by engaging with the community for problem-solving, spearheading enforcement and awareness initiatives, and performing outreach to build public trust," Rohrer said in an e-mail.

Continuing that mission will be Capt. Andre Tibbs, who takes over as commander of the Reston District Station upon Burnett's March 24 retirement. Tibbs, a 22-year police veteran, most recently was the Assistant Commander of the Organized Crime and Narcotics Division.

Burnett, meanwhile, has slated a full schedule of retirement fun. First, a trip to Botswana and South Africa with friends. Then, a summer at at Bethany Beach and "playing golf and hanging out with family."

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Burnett was the highest-ranking woman in the department. That was incorrect.