The McDonald's at Bradlee Shopping Center, back in business Wednesday morning.
Wednesday morning, an Alexandria Police Department vehicle — parked at a diagonal for maximum visibility — was the only indication that anything was wrong at the McDonald’s at Bradlee Shopping Center.
Tuesday afternoon, the scene was very different: Police responded to a shooting involving juveniles from Alexandria City High School (ACHS), and caution tape blocked off the restaurant. A fight after school resulted in one of those involved getting shot. The person was taken to the hospital with injuries and is expected to survive.
Tuesday's shooting touches on issues that quickly are becoming focal points of this November's local elections — school safety, increasing crime, and funding for the Alexandria Police Department.
“The incident yesterday was shocking for our community and shocking for me as someone who has a student at ACHS,” Mayor Justin Wilson said Wednesday morning. “Our Police will continue to work closely with ACPS to ensure the safety of our students. That was the commitment we made after the Council's decision in the spring, and we'll continue that work.”
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Positions Remain Unfilled
Wilson was referring to a decision to remove funding from the School Resource Officers program and move that funding to various positions supporting mental health and more.
Just a few days before city council was set to pass the overall 2021-22 FY budget back in May, four council members voted during an “add/delete” budget work session to put nearly $800,000 of funding for the 20-year School Resource Officers (SRO) program into contingent reserve, effectively ending the program.
Councilmembers Mo Seifeldein, Canek Aguirre, Elizabeth Bennett-Parker and John Taylor Chapman voted to defund the SRO program. Wilson and Councilmembers Del Pepper and Amy Jackson voted against reallocating the program’s funds.
After the City’s budget passed in May and the decision became final, city officials worked to determine the best way to spend the $790,000 in former SRO funds. The plan included hiring multiple therapists and other specialists to support mental health and other programs aimed primarily at students and families.
However, hiring can take some time, particularly for positions where finding the right specialist is critical to the success of the program. Because of that, four of at least five budgeted staff positions — all being filled through the City of Alexandria, not the school system — remain unfilled.
The City of Alexandria has hired one therapist. The Department of Community and Human Resources has posted a job opening for another therapist, and the other therapist supervisor and therapist position job postings are coming soon. The Alexandria Health Department is finalizing the steps needed for the Minnie Howard public health nurse job posting to go live, according to city staff.
While the official SRO program itself is not funded, the police officers who worked in the program are continuing with other ways to connect with students, including through sports and other activities. For example, the Cops v. Kids futsal tournament is scheduled for Oct. 11.
While the decision is final for now, city council members could restore the funding for the SRO program, but Wilson noted that only three council members support doing so.
Pointing Fingers — and Cameras
The topic of whether SROs should be back inside city school buildings has led to the launch of a small-but-growing Facebook group called “Returns SROs to ACPS.” The group is planning a rally this coming Tuesday outside city hall just before that evening’s city council meeting.
Wilson has faced heavy criticism on social media for voting in favor of the overall city budget after voting against reallocating the SRO funds. Wilson responded by explaining that he couldn’t hold up the $753 million budget for the entire city over this issue.
“Not voting for the budget would have meant de-funding ALL of our Police, our Fire Department, our human services, our schools, etc.,” he wrote in an email to Alexandria Living Magazine. “Shutting down our government because I don't get my way on one budget item is lunacy.”
The SRO funding issue and school safety have become significant discussion points in this November’s city and school board elections, with some residents advocating on social media for votes for city council candidates who support police in schools, and others taking the opposite position.
Many residents remain supportive of the nationwide Police-Free Public Schools movement and say that Alexandria city and school system officials are on the right track toward making schools safe for all students.
On Facebook Wednesday morning, one resident wrote, “Our high school has 4,100 students across two campuses. Three SROs there or even all five citywide would not have prevented [the shooting], even if it occurred on campus, which it did not. Magnetometers might have helped. But we actually need to address systemic issues and do a better job of helping kids build coping skills.”
In the past month, several students have reported cafeteria and after-school fights at the high school and middle schools. Despite a ban on cell phone use during the school day, students are filming the fights and sharing them with parents. Police have reportedly been dispatched three times to ACHS for fights, but several other altercations have been broken up by ACPS security and staff.
“School safety and security is a top priority for our schools,” ACPS officials said Wednesday evening in response to questions from Alexandria Living Magazine.
“Each school has a crisis management plan in place per code. Since the loss of the SROs at the high school and middle schools, the ACPS Office of Safety & Security Services has coordinated with the Alexandria Police Department (APD) to review police procedures when police receive calls for assistance from the schools.”
One resident on the Nextdoor web platform wrote Wednesday morning, addressing those who worked and voted to remove School Resource Officers, “You didn’t listen to the high school principal or the high school social workers or the high school counselors. Instead you put your faith in outside sources that know nothing about AC High School fka TC Williams High School. The results were fights and led to a kid being shot — you are responsible for this. The SROs know all the players and intervene before it gets this far. But you put your agenda above the safety of the children. Next time it could be worse because things tend to escalate.”
Overall Increase in Crime
“Separate from the incident [Tuesday], the City, along with most of the region, has seen an uptick in some crime over the past two years,” Wilson said.
Just two hours before the shooting Tuesday at McDonald’s, the Alexandria Police Department tweeted, “Police are in the 200 block of S. Reynolds St. for a shooting investigation that occurred around 1:15pm. Evidence was recovered. At least one person was injured. Injuries are not life-threatening. Anyone with information should call 703.746.4444.”
The day before: “Police are in the 5400 block of Richenbacher Ave. for a shots fired investigation that occurred around 8pm. Evidence was recovered at the scene. No injuries were reported.”
“Our Police have been very focused on addressing these challenges, particularly related to firearm-incidents,” Wilson said on Wednesday. “We brought in new partnerships with the ATF and others, made numerous arrests, served scores of search warrants and they have taken many dangerous weapons off the streets.”
On the heels of a similar letter from Alexandria firefighters, the Alexandria police union sent an open letter to city leaders asking for better pay and conditions, noting that an “exodus” of staff is affecting the department’s ability to fulfill all of their duties. The letter warns that staff has been moved from programs like Community Policing to ensure adequate response for public safety issues.
“We have fought for fair pay for decades, and yet our starting salary ranks 13th out of the 14 Northern Virginia law enforcement agencies,” according to the letter.
