Maj. Edwin C. Roessler Jr. is in the midst of his 20th year with the Fairfax County Police Department. Last year, he was handed the reigns to the county’s police academy and has since been bringing it into the 21st century as he introduces technology-based methods of delivering lesson plans.

What changes have you brought to the academy?

We’ve formed a training advisory committee to make sure we’re delivering the type of training our clients want. [The academy trains county police, sheriffs and fire marshals, among others]. We’ve also instituted e-learning, sending material over the Internet. For example, officers have to go through state-mandated cultural diversity training. That means 2,000 people would have to come to the academy for an eight-hour training. But with the e-learning, we can send the lessons out via e-mail and the officers can do the training during down times during their shifts. If they get a call for service, they can drop the lesson and pick up where they left off later. It’s saving thousands of dollars.