A Virginia town has been excluded from a countywide police training academy after the town’s chief complained about Chinese signatures on trainees’ graduation certificates.
Herndon Police Chief Maggie DeBoard complained that the academy director, Major Wilson Lee, used Chinese characters to sign the certificates that graduates receive when they complete training at the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy.
In an e-mail sent last month, DeBoard told Lee: “I just found out that the academy graduation certificates were signed by you in some other language, not in English. This is unacceptable for my agency. I don’t want our Herndon officers to receive these and I am requesting that they are issued certificates signed in English, the language that they are expected to use as an officer.”
On March 18, the county’s deputy executive for safety and security, Thomas Arnold, wrote to DeBoard informing her that the county was terminating Herndon’s affiliation with the academy.
Herndon Town Manager Bill Ashton said in a statement that the town is reviewing the incident.
“It is unfortunate that Chief DeBoard’s recent interaction with Fairfax County’s Criminal Justice Academy has been viewed as discriminatory,” Ashton said. “I have personally known Chief DeBoard for over 12 years and this interaction is completely inconsistent with the dedicated public servant that I know.”
Herndon is a part of Fairfax County, just outside the nation’s capital, but the town maintains its own police force.
The much larger Fairfax County Police Department is the primary user of the academy, which also serves the town of Vienna, the county sheriff’s office and the county fire marshal.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis declined to comment on the dispute.
In an e-mail he sent to officers, he said that “for 16 years of an impeccable career, memorializing a legal name given at birth with a signature that exudes heritage pride has not garnered a single criticism. Nor should it.”
Herndon Police referred questions to the statement issued by the town manager.
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