In this segment of AML Now, ACAMS Executive Vice President, John J. Byrne sat down with Career Achievement Award winner Jim Cox from the Fairfax County Police Department in Fairfax, Virginia. Second Lieutenant Cox discusses a whole host of issues such as human trafficking, information sharing and the heroin epidemic.
Second Lieutenant James A. Cox III began his career in law enforcement in 1983 by enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps and serving as a military police officer until 1987. Second Lieutenant Cox joined the Fairfax County Police Department, Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1988. He was first assigned as a patrol officer at the Mount Vernon District Station and in 1990, he was selected as a member on an elite Select Enforcement Team targeting burglaries and robberies. In 1994, he was selected from a group of candidates to the Department’s Organized Crime and Narcotics Division as an undercover detective and in 1999 he took over as an asset forfeiture detective.
In 2001, Second Lieutenant Cox was promoted to the rank of sergeant. Once promoted, he was transferred to the Reston District Station as a patrol supervisor. In 2003, Second Lieutenant Cox was assigned to the Internal Affairs Bureau and in 2004, he was requested to become the squad supervisor of the newly-formed Special Investigations/Narcotics Money Laundering Unit (SIN/MLU). SIN/MLU is responsible for all the forfeitures for the Fairfax County Police Department. This elite unit has seized millions of dollars, prosecuted cases on Federal RICCO statutes, and has aided Departmental Investigations for further identification of assets and has successfully seized those assets. In October 2013, Second Lieutenant Cox was promoted to his current rank. He continues working as the lead instructor for drug identification, its laws and enforcement for the Department as well as community groups and he continues to testify as an expert witness in the field of illegal drugs for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Fairfax County General and Circuit Court of Fairfax County.
In 2016 he was the recipient of the ACAMS Special Career Recognition Award, which was presented at the ACAMS 15th Annual AML & Financial Crime Conference in Las Vegas.
Editor’s note: If you know a financial crime prevention professional you would like interviewed. Please send your AML Now interview recommendations to John J. Byrne at jbyrne@acams.org or to Karla Monterrosa-Yancey at editor@acams.org.
