The Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) is disbanding its Gang Unit, shifting its approach to investigating gang-related crime in response to evolving law enforcement tools and community safety strategies.
Personnel from the Gang Unit, which was tasked with investigating gangs and enforcing street-level gang activity, will be reassigned within the Criminal Investigations Division, ACPD spokesperson Alli Shorb confirmed.
Despite this organizational change, Shorb assured the community that incidents involving gangs would still be thoroughly investigated by the division, and gang-related charges would remain a focus when necessary.
Last week marked a significant shift in the county’s approach to gang enforcement when the Arlington County Board voted to end voluntary cooperation between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Previously, police could communicate with ICE in specific contexts related to identified gang members and serious crimes.
As a result of this change, referrals made to ICE by ACPD related predominantly to gang investigations are likely to diminish moving forward.
Following the Board’s vote, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin publicly criticized the decision, highlighting concerns about gang activity as part of his rebuttal to the county’s new policy.
Shorb emphasized that the decision to dismantle the Gang Unit had been made before the Board’s recent vote and was influenced by years of advocacy from groups calling for reevaluating ICE’s role in local police operations, particularly regarding its impact on immigrant communities in Arlington.
“The Arlington County Police Department continually reviews personnel assignments and makes relevant structural decisions based on factors including available staffing, crime trends, technology advancements, and departmental priorities,” Shorb stated.
However, she opted not to elaborate further on the specific reasons behind the disbandment.
Randall Mason, president of the Arlington Coalition of Police, voiced concerns from the police union regarding the implications of these changes.
Mason argued that the previous trust policy provided law enforcement with a useful resource to combat public safety threats tied to gang activity.
He remarked, “Section 7 of the trust policy was meant to keep the community safe.
It seemed to be a common-sense approach to this issue, only contacting ICE in a very limited number of circumstances.”
Instead of abolishing the section completely, Mason suggested that any ambiguities in Section 7 could have been resolved through more targeted discussions.
One of the police union’s primary concerns is how the dissolution of the Gang Unit and the policy shift may impact recruitment to the ACPD, which is currently facing a staffing crisis.
“Will this decision somehow deter prospective officers from choosing ACPD over another agency? I have no idea,” he stated.
Mason highlighted that ongoing understaffing issues leave the department stretched thin, with nearly 40% of positions in the Criminal Investigations Division unfilled.
“This situation means that cases that used to receive attention and follow-up are slipping through the cracks,” he explained.
He stressed that the lack of resources, including the removal of the Gang Unit, is emblematic of broader challenges faced in maintaining quality investigations for Arlington’s residents.
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