Reply to The Downfall of Alexandria

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The City of Alexandria quietly seeks to empower independent Police Community Board at the Expense of APD and risks public safety. In 2022, the city created the Independent Community Policing Review Board (ICPRB) and Alexandria Independent Policing Auditor (AIPA). Residents posted about this at the time (link below), expressing concern about purpose of this group, and the composition of the ICPRB raising questions about its objectivity and purpose. It was recently reported that serious crimes in the city (referred to as Part I crimes) rose 74% from 2,722 to 4,733 incidents per year from 2019-2024. In other words, we have a serious crime problem!
I happened to check the docket for tomorrow, and Item 11 is an Ordinance increasing the power of the ICPRB and AIPA. The only group the city gathered input from was Tenants and Workers United (TWU). They claim they sent an email to 200 persons, but did not say who they were or how they got a name. There was one "public event" held with 11 attendees, 7 of whom were Board members or their staff. There was no effort to engage civic associations, victim support groups, or any other interested public stakeholder. Please let us know if you received that email requesting feedback
The big change in this ordinance is the Board would establish a formal inquiry intake process for complaints, and the Board can request investigations. They would also have subpoena power (which is legally questionable since normally only courts have that power). The memo in the docket item suggests one reason for the change is to evade FOIA. It at least seems the purpose is to pressure APD even more. With a crime wave on our hands, the last thing we need if for APD to be under further siege.
There was little effort made to inform the public, as reflected in the feedback form. For example, they identified one person from the “West End” who provided feedback, 3 from "Seminary Hill," and it is unclear where and when that happened. We do know Seminary Hill Association was never notified.
Bill Rossello recently wrote a piece in the Times on our exploding crime problem, noting that “elected officials overreacted to terrible events in places not named Alexandria.” The reaction is puzzling since APD has a history of professionalism, and has no record of systemic misconduct. In lieu of focusing on public safety in light of our crime wave, the city appears to be doubling down on neutering APD.
This is all last minute with little public notice. Please review the materials and ask Councilors to thoughtfully wait until the public has an opportunity to understand the impact of these changes.
https://alexandria.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx...
https://alextimes.com/.../city-hall-watch-with-bill.../[/quote]

The proposed ordinance change would only "empower" the police review board in that it would actually allow it to function. The existing ordinance, written by someone who left the Council 4 years ago, is unworkable. TWU and members of the Board were mad about the changes because they thought the proposals were going to make the board weaker, not stronger. They wanted the proposed ordinance changed to make the board stronger.

I watched the meeting. It seemed like Gaskins, Bagley and McPike wanted to keep the ordinance as it was, while Aguirre and Elnoubi wanted to give the board more powers. I don't think Chapman or Greene said a single word during the discussion, so I don't know where they stood. They ended up punting the thing to a committee to figure out if something everyone agreed on could be figured out.[/quote]

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