Fairfax County will fund only part of a police program that investigates and tracks sexual predators of children after federal money for the initiative dried up.
The Protecting Children Against Sex Offenders, or P’CASO program, is in the fourth year of what was supposed to be a five-year grant that allowed the team of six police officers to keep operating. But there is no federal money for the program for the next fiscal year, leaving it up to Fairfax County to fund completely.
The officers in P’CASO perform two key functions: investigating sexual predators on the Internet and keeping tabs on registered offenders living in the county.
“There was no expectation for the county to have to pay any of this,” said Supervisor Sharon Bulova, the Board of Supervisors’ budget chairwoman whose proposed fiscal 2009 budget funds four of the positions.
The failure to fully fund the P’CASO force, which would cost just under $800,000 in a slow revenue year, has drawn criticism from supervisors who want to keep the program at its current staffing levels.
“Yes, four is better than zero, there is no question of that,” said Sully District Supervisor Michael Frey. “But you do have some various elements to it that you’re going to lose.”
Both of the group’s key duties will take a hit, Frey said, and it “won’t function as proactively as it has been.”
A search of the Virginia State Police’s sex offender registry produced 384 names of offenders registered as living in Fairfax County. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who had secured the original funding that set up P’CASO, requested only two earmarks this year amid widespread criticism of Congress’ use of the spending items: funding for the Dulles Rail extension and the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force.
“Everybody is screaming bloody murder about no earmarks,” said Wolf aide Dan Scandling. “This is what no earmarks means: That good programs are going to go unfunded.”
