Carroll D. Buracker, 66, a former chief of the Fairfax CountyPolice Department and chief executive of a public safety consultingfirm whose recommendations often led to major changes in policedepartments across the country, died April 22 at the WinchesterMedical Center in Winchester, Va., of complications from a stroke.He had lived in Harrisonburg, Va., since 1990 but maintainedpersonal and business ties to Fairfax.
Mr. Buracker joined the Fairfax police on New Year's Day of1966, and rose through the ranks to become chief in 1981, a positionhe held until his retirement in 1985. During his tenure, he workedto modernize law enforcement in Fairfax, adding a police helicopterprogram, installing computers in police cruisers and state-of-the-art dispatching gear, and acquiring armored vehicles for thedepartment's SWAT team. He also implemented an automated fingerprintidentification system and developed the department's own trainingfacility.
After his retirement, he formed Carroll Buracker & Associates,based in Harrisonburg. The company conducted more than 260efficiency and management studies of police, sheriff's and firedepartments; emergency medical services; 911 centers; and securityservices in more than 120 cities and counties.
He served as project manager for the comprehensive assessment ofChicago's new police-fire-EMS communications system and for anemergency dispatch study in Los Angeles. He also assessed theintegrated police and security plans for Seattle, Cleveland andelsewhere.
He became a national leader in setting standards of quality andbest practices for community policing in cities and urban countiesand was the project manager and executive producer for 'Beyond theBadge,' a community policing training video.
As a consultant, he didn't mince words. In 2005, he toldSpringfield, Mass., that its police force was 'dysfunctional,' thathe had never seen such upper-level friction between the police chiefand other senior officers, and that the city's data on crimestatistics were a shambles. Brian Buracker, his son and successor atthe company, noted that his father was invariably straightforwardbut always showed his clients how their problems could be solved.
Mr. Buracker also founded the Center for Public Safety, anonprofit company that was chosen by the Department of Housing andUrban Development to develop a comprehensive security assessment andblueprint to reintegrate a public housing development in Vidor,Tex., after black residents were forced out by the local Ku KluxKlan. The Center for Public Safety also conducted a nationwide studyof policing in federal subsidized housing.
Carroll David Buracker was born in Luray, Va., and was raised byfoster parents. He worked on farms while attending school yetmanaged to excel as an athlete at Luray High School, where helettered in four sports. A runner his whole life, he completed 12major marathons.
He served as an Army military policeman in Germany after highschool and worked briefly as a Harrisonburg police officer beforemoving to Fairfax. He received his undergraduate degree and hismaster's degree in law enforcement and justice administration in theearly 1970s, both from American University. He also graduated fromthe FBI National Academy.
He served as chairman of the Metropolitan Washington Council ofGovernment's Police Chiefs' Committee and co-chaired the developmentof the Area Emergency Disaster Plan.
As police chief, he received the Fairfax County government's twohighest honors -- the Onthank Award and the Unusual Ability Award.He also received the Gold Salute Award from the United Black Fund ofGreater Washington for his efforts to promote women and AfricanAmericans in law enforcement.
Survivors include his wife of 38 years, Patricia Blair Burackerof Harrisonburg; his son Brian, of Fairfax County, and another son,David Buracker of Alexandria.
-- Joe Holley
