Ashley
HopkoJune 17, 2020 at 3:30pm
At last
night’s town hall meeting by the Fairfax County NAACP, the organization’s
president Sean Perryman met with local elected officials and community leaders
to discuss the future of policing.
Since
the killing of George Floyd in police custody and outrage over racial
inequities in the U.S., the NAACP compiled a list of policy changes for how to
address how police use force and report actions to the public.
Top
demands for reform include:
• removing police from schools
• reporting data efficiently
• implementing body-worn cameras
• reporting officer misconduct
• reviewing the use of force policy
• demilitarizing the police force
• mandating counseling/early
intervention
Perryman
said that the Fairfax County Police Department needs to see policy and budget
overhauls to end systemic racism and better serve the community. Perryman said
that nearly half the police use of force in the area is used against Black
individuals even though they make up 10% of the population.
At the
meeting, the attendees, which included Supervisors Dalia Pakchik, John Foust,
Walter Alcorn and Chairman Jeff McKay, all agreed that changes are needed to
improve the safety and security of every Fairfax County resident.
Fairfax
County Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr.
expressed a willingness to work with the NAACP on the proposed changes.
“I
don’t think I oppose in whole any one of these items,” Roessler said, but added
that there might be stipulations on certain topics.
A point
of confusion at the meeting was about the transparency of data. Though everyone
agreed that data is important to tracking issues and upcoming solutions, no one
was on the same page when it came to the type of data and release date.
The
FCPD police chief said that recent data on use of force data and school arrests
should be released to McKay later this week, but the department is
transitioning to a new data management system to achieve the goal.
“We
have a lot of promises for data and more transparency but we aren’t actually
getting the data,” Perryman said, adding that this data needs to be not only
released to the county board, but also to the public.
“This
would give the community some insight into what is happening,” Perryman said,
adding that this data needs to include other information such as traffic stops
and the races of officers and civilians involved.
The
conversation on body-worn cameras for officers revolved around best practices and
use.
Perryman
suggested that officers shouldn’t be allowed to choose when to use them,
calling it “an essential part of transparency,” he said.
“It is
a waste of equipment, essentially a lens with a price tag, if there is no
policy in place that prevents officers from turning this off or selectively
turning it on,” he added.
When it
comes to budget and funding, Perryman doesn’t believe the department should
receive extra money from the state or the county for this project, suggesting
that the cost should come from internal budget shifts.
“What
we’ve seen in the past when there is a problem with the police, we give them
more money to get more toys and we think that needs to stop,” Perryman said. “I
don’t think there is an appetite for it here in the country or anywhere else
actually.”
The
town hall also addressed concerns with civilian review panels.
Tn the
past, the panels have struggled to “have teeth,” according to Roessler, who
added that the General Assembly would need to correct that.
Though
there are challenges, Perryman said that people need to stop pointing fingers
and create a substantial plan. He wants the panel to be independent and have
the power to investigative incidents independently.
“This
has to be a group that can stand up and can make clear recommendations to us,”
McKay agreed. “I’ll be happy to work with you on the roster.”
Later
in the meeting, Alcorn spoke up and talked about limiting the presence of
firearms in the community.
“I’m
not sure sending out folks with firearms is the best approach in 2020,” Alcorn
said, adding that when someone calls 911, depending on the situation, there are
better ways to address a community need.
Supervisors
Palchik and Foust offered their support to continue the conversation with both
FCPD and Fairfax County NAACP about new policies and best practices.
“We are
not immune from making the types of reforms that are necessary to build the
kind of confidence that everyone should have in our law enforcement agencies,”
McKay said. “The most important thing for elected officials to do right now is
to listen.”
