Lt. Col. Edwin Roessler Jr. was appointed police chief of Fairfax County Tuesday and told News4 he is excited to oversee the growing county's population.
Roessler has been the deputy chief of patrol since 2010 and has worked in law enforcement for more than 20 years. He succeeds Police Chief David Rhrer, who retired last October.
"I'm no different from the day I was hired as a patrol officer," Roessler told News4's Northern Virginia Bureau reporter David Culver. "I'm still the same Ed from 25 years ago."
While Roessler admits he hasn't changed much, he said he's preparing to adjust police strategy for the county -- now home to more than 1 million people -- and counting.
"If we're going to grow vertical, such as high-rise buildings, mix-use cityscapes, we're going to have to change the style of our policing," Roessler said. "It might mean 2-person patrols or bicycle patrol. The challenge is immediate and we have a team that is getting ready to train the entire agency is this mode of policing so we can keep pace with that urbanization."
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"You're going to have to deal with a lot of influx of new people," Amann said.
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Chief Roessler says of the 11 new officers approved this year -- nine will go to Tysons Corner. There will also be officers trained to deal with rail security given the new Metro station.
Roessler is confident despite the booming growth -- he will keep the county's crime on its downward trend.
"I have great integrity," Roessler said. "I have great compassion for my police department, my community, and that's who I am -- and people understand who Ed Roessler is."
Roessler will start the job Tuesday. His annual salary is $183,815.
