Table of Contents
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Alexandria Police Department says its June 18 Public Safety Summit at Virginia Theological Seminary was the first phase of a broader community engagement effort around Chief Tarrick McGuire's Public Safety Framework, and that the department will host smaller, neighborhood-based discussions over the next several weeks.
The department's response, sent to The Alexandria Brief on Monday by APD Communications Manager Tracy Walker, came four days after the Brief asked why the summit had been closed to the public.
"While the Summit itself was a stakeholder event, it represents only the first phase of engagement around the Public Safety Framework," Walker said. "We are committed to broad community input and will be taking these conversations into neighborhoods and community spaces over the next several weeks through smaller, more accessible discussions hosted by community partners. Community feedback guides our work. We encourage anyone interested in joining the conversation to take part in these opportunities."
The June 18 summit gathered invited residents, civic and neighborhood leaders, city officials and public safety stakeholders at Virginia Theological Seminary for what the department described as a "collaborative vision roadmap" session on the long-term Public Safety Plan that McGuire has been presenting to City Council since early June. The day featured McGuire's introduction of APD's five-pillar G.R.E.A.T. framework — Geographical policing and accountability, Relationships, Evidence-based strategies and enforcement, Assessment, and Technology — a community panel, a Regional Police Chiefs Forum and a closing keynote from Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Stanley Meador.
The Brief, which was invited but unable to attend, asked APD that day why the summit had been organized as invitation-only. The question had also been raised informally with the Brief by community members who had not received invitations and were uncertain how to participate in the Public Safety Plan's development.
Walker's response is the department's first detailed public explanation of how broader community input will be gathered. Several specifics remain unclear, including which neighborhoods the smaller discussions will visit, who the community partners hosting those discussions will be, when the first such session is scheduled, and whether the neighborhood meetings will be open to all residents or limited to invited participants. The Brief has requested those details and will update this story as APD responds.
The Public Safety Plan itself is on track for further presentations to City Council later this year before final adoption. McGuire's June 9 council session was advisory, not a vote — the chief has been soliciting council direction on the plan's structure and metrics rather than seeking approval of a final document.
More coverage on this topic
Ryan Belmore
Ryan Belmore
Ryan Belmore
