Mason police officer is ‘local hero’ to kids at Willston after-school program

“Murph” helps the kids with their homework.

When Alejandra Caballero saw a recent video that went viral showing a police officer throwing a football with a young boy in Texas, she had an idea: Why not publicize the behind-the-scenes work with children carried out by PFC Brendan Murphy?

Murphy, the crime prevention officer at the Mason Police District, spends hours with the children in the after-school and summer programs at the Willston Multicultural Center in Seven Corners. “I am proud to say that Officer Brendan Murphy is our own local hero,” says Caballero, the former youth director at the Willston Center and currently a community developer with the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services in Annandale. 

Murphy shows the kids his unmarked police car.

Murphy started coming to the center regularly after he presented a workshop on bullying there two years ago and realized there weren’t enough staff available to provide homework help.

So he started stopping by regularly to help the kids with their schoolwork. “A lot of those families are struggling financially or have single-parent households, and parents don’t have time to work with their children or don’t have the English skills to help with reading and writing,” Caballero says.

Murphy stops by to visit with the children whenever he has the chance, sometimes bringing popsicles or cookies, and plays with them on the playground. “He has a great way with children and has built a good rapport with them,” Caballero says. “The little kids admire him.”

He’s also presented workshops for the children about safety, self defense, and gang prevention. He’s shown them his police gadgets and even let them sound the siren in his police car.

The center definitely needs more volunteers for the after-school program. If you’re interested, contact the center’s new youth director, Elisa Velasco, 703-536-8943, elisa.velasco@fairfaxcounty,gov.