Get to Know Officer Chai Fuller

This article was published in the May 2022 issue of Warrenton Lifestyle magazine.

Some would say that Warrenton Police Officer Chai Fuller was destined to have a career in law enforcement. “My entire family is law enforcement,” she says. “My mom did 20 years for Fairfax Sheriff’s Office, my uncle worked as a correctional officer…my grandfather was a military police officer, and my Godparents were in the Marine Corps. And then my other Godparents, my Godmother works for the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] and my Godfather works for ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms]. So I kind of wasn’t straying away from it even if I tried to.”

While Fuller’s family history may have led her to a job in law enforcement, it’s her charisma and outgoing demeanor that make her a perfect fit for her role as public information officer (PIO).

“I love it!” says Fuller about her role with the department. She was originally hired in July of 2017 as a Warrenton police officer, “and then when our new chief came in February of 2020, we [didn’t] have a PIO position. He came from Alexandria, which almost every larger department has a bigger PIO office, so he’s like, ‘We need one,’” she explains. Then when Chief Michael Kochis got to know Fuller, “He was like, ‘Yeah, you’re in this position,” she says.

In her role, Fuller not only works to keep community members apprised of department news, but also develops creative new ways to cultivate meaningful relationships with the community that enhance communication, transparency, understanding, and trust. During the COVID pandemic, this included programs such as a partnership with Fauquier FRESH to bring virtual workout programs to kids — for which Fuller taught hip-hop — and neighborhood pop-ups that encouraged people to get outside and interacting with local groups, including the Warrenton Police Department, Warrenton United Methodist Church, and Fauquier FRESH. “A new thing that I’m getting ready to do is called patch pal,” she says. “You write on a notecard just saying, ‘Hey, I'm Officer Fuller, this is what I'm doing today. It’s been a great day. How about you?’ And you include one of our patches in the letter and you give it to [an elementary school student] and they become your patch pal. So, you start writing to them and you start talking about your day, basically like a mentorship program.”

Another program of Fuller’s creation, called “See It In a Different Light,” is a role-reversal program in which citizens experience a situation from a police officer’s point of view. “[Participants] go through a PowerPoint…to understand situational awareness, defensive tactics, de-escalation, and nonverbal/verbal cues.” After the presentation, participants are handed a radio and a badge number, and dispatch alerts them to a call about a suspicious person (played by one of the department’s retired lieutenants). “So you get the call and run the scenario. It’s not anything weaponized — I maybe get your heartrate up just a little bit with arguments and stuff, but that’s about it,” Fuller says. “Then we go back and talk about, ‘How was that experience?’ The feedback that we got from that program was that it was eye-opening. [Participants] didn’t realize how much communication actually works.”

Another aspect of Fuller’s job is to ensure that morale is good within the department. “My job is to make sure the community is happy with us, and we are happy within ourselves. Because if we aren’t happy within ourselves, it’s going to translate out in the community,” she says. “And it makes me happy. I feel better as a human being making sure that everybody else is feeling happy. That’s just how I’ve always been.”

In her spare time, “I’m a shopaholic!” says Fuller. When she isn’t shopping, she enjoys spending time with family, “and I think friends are family as well,” she says. In addition to friends, Fuller’s family includes her husband and her fourth-month-old son . “Of course, I just love being around my kid and taking him to swimming. He’s learning so fast.”

Come September, Fuller and her family will be heading out for a new adventure in Hawaii for her husband’s military orders. “I’ve lived here all my life, 28 years, and to up and move with a newborn…it’s definitely a change,” she says. “But I know I can always handle [what I’m given], or at least try to.”