Fairfax County police officers are patrolling county roads around the clock this week, including Vienna-area routes, as part of the third wave of the department's Road Shark traffic enforcement campaign. The first two rounds have already produced more than 25,000 citations and warnings in 2026.

The seven-day blitz began Monday, Aug. 10, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 16. Officers from the Fairfax County Police Department and Virginia State Police are targeting speeding, aggressive driving, distracted driving, school zone violations and DUI in areas the department has identified as problem spots.

"Our goal for this program is to eliminate the road sharks from our roadways," Second Lt. Tara Gerhard of FCPD's Traffic Safety Services section told 7News on Tuesday, Aug. 11. "And to be clear, a road shark is an aggressive driver. Somebody who is running a red light, unsafe lane changes, driving while intoxicated, things like that."

44% more citations than 2025

The first two rounds of Road Shark in 2026 produced 25,311 citations and warnings combined: 13,520 during Wave 1 in April and 11,791 during Wave 2 in June, according to Northern Virginia Magazine. That represents roughly a 44 percent increase over the same two rounds in 2025, which totaled about 17,570.

Wave 2 alone, which ran June 8–14, resulted in 5,740 citations and 6,051 warnings, according to an FCPD press release.

Gerhard said speeding remains the most common offense caught during Road Shark enforcement, with reckless driving and DUIs among the most dangerous.

What drivers should expect

Officers are deployed 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the enforcement period. Traffic stops average 10 to 15 minutes, with officers using a mobile app to scan licenses and registration and print citations from their patrol cars.

Penalties range from $25 for minor infractions up to thousands of dollars and a year in jail for serious charges such as reckless driving or DUI.

A fourth and final round of Road Shark is scheduled to begin in October. Residents who want to report dangerous driving can contact the Fairfax County Police non-emergency line.