McLean District Police Commander Promoted to New Post

McLean District Police Commander Capt. Steve Thompson leaves McLean the end of January to become head of Organized Crime and Narcotics for the Fairfax County police department.

Capt. Thompson has served as commander of the McLean District since April 2008. "Four years in an assignment is usually enough for me and I’m ready for a change," Capt. Thompson said Tuesday. "I spent about 3 years in Organized Crime as a lieutenant, so the learning curve will be rather gentle. But it is an interesting place to work."

His work was praised by Dranesville Supervisor John Foust and the leaders of the Citizens Advisory Committee  (CAC) to the McLean District.

"It has been a real pleasure working with Captain Thompson over the past three plus years. I especially appreciated Steve's community outreach and his responsiveness to community concerns. He also provided great leadership to the effort that led to the capture of the said Supervisor Foust.

Capt.Thompson will be succeeded by Capt. Dan Janickey. The captain is a 23-year veteran of the county's police department and, most recently, was a commander in the Special Operations Division, according to a spokesperson for the department.

Foust said, "I do not know Captain Janickey but have heard very good things about him. I am looking forward to working with him."

Bill Trapp, long-time chair of the CAC, said, ". . .  Steve has made himself available on short notice more than once. He has always been receptive to suggestions and ideas of others. Steve is a leader who is not afraid of getting out in the community and addressing problems brought to him by our citizens. I will miss Steve and  wish him well in his new assignment.

John Speicher, long-time vice-chair of the CAC, said, "It has been good working with Captain Steve during the last four years.  We are fond of him.  Change in command, however, is the nature of the FCPD as promising officers are shifted and promoted throughout the ranks.

"The Citizens Advisory Committee has been fortunate to have a string of effective and approachable Commanders at the McLean District Stations such as Art Rudat, Bob Callahan, Steve Smylie, and Graham McGowan before him. Indeed Colonel Rohrer  was once the Assistant Commander at the McLean station and now he is the Chief of Police. We look forward to meeting and interacting with Capt Janickey when he joins us later this month."

The McLean District station is located on Balls Hill Road in McLean. The district resembles a large shade tree. The boundaries are generally Route 50 on the South,Towlston Road and the Potomac River on the East and North and Hunter Mill Road on the West.

Staffing: 132 sworn officers plus 28 civilian staff members
Size of District: Approximately 44 square miles
Area Covered: Merrifield, Dunn Loring, Falls Church, McLean, Tyson’s Corner, and Great Falls
Contains: Tyson’s Corner I and II; Central Intelligence Agency, National CounterTerrorism Center.