New commander at Mount Vernon District Police Station

The Mount Vernon District Police Station has new station commander, the Fairfax County Police Department announced last week.

Captain Matthew Owens took over as commander on September 16, according to Robert Urps, the Crime Prevention Officer at the Mount Vernon station. Urps made the announcement last Thursday in a Nextdoor.com post. 

Owens is third commander at the Mount Vernon station in less than five months. He replaces Major Tony Matos, who had been in the position since June. Matos was recently promoted to major and is now the commander of the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy, according to Urps’ post.

The previous station commander, Capt. Shawn Martin, held the position from July 2015 until this June.

Owens has been with the department since 1998 and served in department’s Planning and Research Bureau in his last job. Prior to that he was assistant commander at the Sully District Police Station.

New Community Liason officer

The Mount Vernon Station also has a new community laison, Urps announced in a separate Nextdoor.com post on Monday.

Pfc. Monica Meeks is now the station’s community liaison officer, a position responsible for implementing and maintaining the station’s community relations activities, Urps said. She will also work with the department’s public education programs in the district, and conduct presentations with community organizations.

Meeks is an 18-year veteran of law enforcement, including the last 10 with the FCPD. During her career she’s served as a patrol officer, law enforcement instructor, school resource officer and as a public information officer, which was her last job.