Kraig Troxell: The voice of authority
By Jason Jacks
Think Sheriff's Office spokesman Kraig Troxell's most memorable moment on the job was a grisly murder or a heart-wrenching abduction?
Nope, think again.
That honor goes to the robber who dared to chat on her cell phone while holding up bank tellers.
"Even People magazine called," he said of the 2005 media storm surrounding the so-called cell phone bandit. "If I would have known it was going to be in the Sexiest Man Alive edition, I wouldn't have given the phone to the sheriff. I could have been in that edition."
As the public voice for law enforcement in Loudoun County since April 2002, Troxell, 35, gets more ink and air time than most elected leaders, including his boss, Sheriff Steve Simpson.
Troxell, the department's first civilian spokesman, is the guy who nosy newspaper and television reporters call when they need a comment on a crime or a face on camera.
Born and raised in Potomac, Md., Troxell, who now lives in Lansdowne, didn't start out as a law enforcement spokesman. In the mid-1990s, he hosted morning and midday shows on Loudoun's WAGE radio, before working in video production for several cable television shows.
He said a desire to get back in community news – something he often did at WAGE – drew him to his current position. And it can be a busy one.
"It's a 24/7 job," he said. "You're never really not on the job. Even on vacation, I'm taking phone calls from the media. But I knew taking this job, it was going to be a big part of my life."
Contact the reporter at jjacks@timespapers.com