Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Safety & Security Committee, Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Place: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 1h 34m (video)
Official meeting video (Fairfax County): https://video.fairfaxcounty.gov/player/clip/2890
Official Board of Supervisors page (Fairfax County): https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/boardofsupervisors/

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-11-03. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:02] We're going to call the meeting to order, please. So for those that are here, we will go ahead and get started. And I'll say welcome to the public safety and security meeting. Delighted to have each of you here today.

[00:00:19] And we have two items on the agenda today. First, we'll have a presentation from the emergency management coordinator. and we'll then have a presentation followed by the Matrix Working Group, which will have an opportunity to update the board on their findings and recommendations.

[00:00:40] So in light of the time, I will go ahead and move to our first agenda item and welcome Seamus Mooney, our emergency management coordinator, with the Department of Emergency Management, to present a review of the Northern Virginia Hazard Mitigation Plan and our county's emergency operations plan.

[00:01:01] And so with that, CMIS, I'll hand it over to you. Thank you, and thank you for the opportunity to present in front of the Public Safety Committee today. We're going to go over two plans that we've had in the works for a good amount of time.

[00:01:18] First is the hazard mitigation plan. The hazard mitigation plan is a regional plan that we work with with all the Northern Virginia jurisdictions, And we're required to do it by federal code, and that'll be discussed in a bit, and then also the county's emergency operation plan.

[00:01:36] So every five years for the mitigation plan and four years for the EOP, we update those and then bring them in front of the board for approval. So I'm going to let the staff that worked on those plans discuss it. So first I'm going to turn it over to Greg Zabrowski, who's the Assistant Coordinator for Planning and Policy for DEMS, who was the lead on the Hazard Mitigation Plan development.

[00:02:01] Good afternoon. My name is Greg Zabrowski. I'm the Assistant Coordinator in Charge of Planning and Policy. For the last several years, I've been working with my partners in the Northern Virginia region on the Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Hazard Mitigation Plan is, as Seamus was saying, is required to be reviewed and revised every five years.

[00:02:22] With that, the Northern Virginia region comes together, and we had 20 jurisdictions participate, so the major counties, cities, and towns within Northern Virginia. The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 kind of requires local governments to develop and adopt a FEMA-approved natural hazard mitigation plan.

[00:02:47] The benefits of this are it makes available funds both before and after a disaster. So there's the hazard mitigation grant program, flood mitigation grant assistance program. In addition to this, what it does is it's a required element for the community rating system, which is what the flood insurance that our county residents pay into.

[00:03:12] And by having this plan, it's a required element and can help reduce the premiums on the insurance for the residents. the goal of the plan is to lessen the impacts of the hazards that are identified in this plan and we'll get into that a little bit later on with so what the hazard mitigation plan is is we're trying to protect property life and make ourselves available for mitigation project money

[00:03:44] both before and after a disaster in general about 15 percent of funds of a declared disaster become available afterwards for hazard mitigation projects. And then there's also money that's available through the state with having the hazard mitigation plan. So it really is not an investment in the plan, but it opens up a lot of doors for funding for projects as deemed.

[00:04:10] Through this plan, we have done extensive partnerships, both with the local counties and the five cities and then the 11 towns. This year, or this planning cycle, we were able to incorporate in the town of Clifton, and they were a great participant. So within the county, Herndon, Vienna, and Clifton all participated. We've currently worked with them, and the town of Vienna and Clifton have adopted the hazard mitigation plan already, so that's a great success for us.

[00:04:49] We worked with a lot of private sector partners. We worked with infrastructure. We worked with state agencies. We worked with public works. But also within the hazard mitigation plan, there is a call and a required element for public input.

[00:05:07] So from August 8th of 2021 until November of 2021, there was a public survey that was heavily advertised by all the jurisdictions as well as through Fairfax County on every means that we could advertise it in social media and got it out there.

[00:05:26] And overall through that period, there were about 1,100 responses. And I'm happy to say that over half of those responses were from the residents of Fairfax County. So once that input came back through the planning team and the planning process, the comments were evaluated and then updated and integrated into the plan.

[00:05:45] And one of the elements in that plan is the survey, and the survey results are included in an appendix. So another essential element of the plan is the hazard identification and risk assessment. So this is kind of where the rubber hits the road.

[00:06:01] And through a lot of different efforts, the plan identifies what the main hazards are through the county. So we looked at historical data from the 2018 State Hazard Mitigation Plan, our 2017 plan.

[00:06:17] We did detailed modeling on a program called Hazus to look at the damage that could be done. We did hazard identification surveys, and we did risk-ranking questionnaires, again, through the public of what they identified as the main hazards.

[00:06:37] Also, through this part, we worked with the office of OEEC and tried to really pair our hazard mitigation efforts and plan to the Resilient Fairfax plan. So we worked with their office in lockstep to make sure that we were singing one song throughout the county.

[00:06:59] So through the hazard identification, we look at, again, we identify the hazards, then we do the profile of the hazards, how it would impact the county. We do the modeling of it to look at the overall impact that it could have, what estimated losses there are, and then we provide that data to the different departments and agencies to look at mitigation actions or plans that they can do to help offset these disasters or potential disasters within the county and for the residents.

[00:07:31] This slide is meant to kind of show you intentionally how complex it is. When we were looking at the critical infrastructure in the county, all of those colored dots weren't just thrown up there. That really just is a good demonstration of how much critical infrastructure that there is in the county through health care systems, public works utilities, energy components, data centers, transportation hubs, schools, firehouses, historic buildings, and the need to look at historic preservation and make sure that that's taken into account as well.

[00:08:12] So why are we here today, or why am I here today? I'm coming before you to ask that we've done a lot to work on the plan. We've worked with our jurisdiction. We've worked with the partners within the county. And what I am asking is that we would need the board of supervisors at one of your full meetings to adopt this plan. And then I can send a letter to FEMA saying that you guys support it and then we can move on. So kind of what we're at right now is in a little bit of a

[00:08:46] holding pattern, the plan is considered approved pending adoption. But once we adopt it, then the full plan will come out with the appendix of all the approval letters and resolutions as they're signed. So I think that's all I have. So I will turn it over unless you have any questions. I apologize. Why don't you continue the presentation and we'll ask the questions at the end. Yes, sir.

[00:09:17] Hey, good afternoon, everyone. My name's Matthew Marquis. I'm with the Fairfax County Department of Emergency Management and Security. I'm going to be talking, flipping a little bit of a gear to our County Emergency Operations Plan. Like Seamus said a little bit earlier, this is a requirement of state law. Every four years, it has to be updated and submitted to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. So since July of 2022, partners from about 30 different agencies have been working on this to kind of develop this and review and revise some of the things that kind of go in are a part of the plan, but the purpose of the plan is, you

[00:09:56] know, to ensure that we have an operational plan in place in the event of some sort of cascading emergency and or disaster. Obviously, with COVID fresh on the heels, we learned a lot from COVID and we applied a lot, especially in our ESF 6, which is our mass care emergency assistance, housing, and human services, emergency support function, and our public health to kind of really incorporate some of the stuff from our mental health providers as well as the health department and some of the lessons learned that they did. But more or less, this kind of establishes the

[00:10:32] overall roles and responsibilities of our emergency responders that kind of go from emergency response to short-term recovery, and then thus moving into our recovery plan, which we had reviewed and revised back in 2020. But some of the big changes that we had for this go-round, it says agency additions up there as OEEC. And as Greg kind of mentioned a little bit earlier, since we've been a part of the Resilient Fairfax plan, looking at climate change and the implications of climate change and how it's an enhancer to some of the natural disasters that we

[00:11:11] get we thought it was pertinent for them to work with us to kind of help develop some strategies in the event of a disaster to kind of look at green infrastructure and how that'll move forward also also the public libraries are a much bigger role now in the emergency operations plan they have facilities that we would probably commandeer in the event of some sort of major incident we just wanted to formalize the process with the public library system and bring them in as a bigger partner, especially for our health and human services and our public health.

[00:11:46] We also added some equity language. It's at the beginning and the forward of the plan right there. We utilize some of the language that we created for the PDRP back in 2020. We use our equity ambassador in our office, who is our access and functional needs planning specialist, to kind of go through some of the language and make sure that it was indeed equitable and kind of provided the same type of response and recovery initiatives for all the residents of Fairfax County.

[00:12:15] And with that, she also went through and kind of updated the access and functional needs language to make it more current with the times. So that was a pretty big undertaking right there. Finally, just like with any other plan, we had to update the authorities, references, kind of change the roles and responsibilities.

[00:12:34] And we did a lot of work with our county agency partners to kind of go through some of those and see what was what. With reorganization and things of that nature, things changed. So we just had to capture those things. We also updated the EOC org chart, as well as some of the lines of succession for some of the different agencies.

[00:12:56] So much like what Greg was asking, I think our big ask here is that you all have a draft. You guys were provided a draft. And we're looking for at the next full board meeting to have it approved. But if that does, if it kind of goes through the motions here today, you know, I'll just say a soft approval, then we're going to go ahead and start working on some of the signature processes.

[00:13:22] So kind of getting some of the agency and department heads who have already been informed of what this is to look through it, agree to the plan, sign a letter of agreement, bring it to the Board of Supervisors, pending an approval from you all, then it will be sent to VDEM, and then a hard copy will be sent to all the signatories of the plan after that.

[00:13:45] And that's about it, and I'm happy to answer some questions. I know we'll probably start with the hazard mitigation plan, but I'm happy to answer any questions as well. Okay, so I will say thank you very much to both of you for your very detailed and comprehensive presentations and they're extraordinarily important as we think about having some response if there's an emergency so thank you for the work that you're doing I wanted to ask a question on page five and I noted that you've identified three areas with the high designation so flood high winds

[00:14:23] severe storms and winter weather those three categories I curiosity just wondering, are there specific areas in the county that are more vulnerable to those high designations? Can you share that information? Sure. So there are certain areas, especially for flooding, obviously you look anywhere that's in the 100 year, 500 year, those would be more prone.

[00:14:53] But as we saw, well, I guess it was three years ago now, depending on where rain falls, we could see it throughout the county um as far as one of the things that we do is we map all uh previous incidents so what we see usually for a winter storm is we usually see it a little heavier on the west side of the county versus the east side so we tend to get deeper snow levels um but again some of the infrastructure on the east side the roads and everything are more impacted by less snow so um truthfully these are kind of almost the same throughout throughout the county flooding

[00:15:29] is a little bit different based on topography but for the other hazards they kind of map out across the whole county. Really it depends on the infrastructure and how it impacts the infrastructure is a lot of what the scoring is based on. Okay that's helpful. Thank you very much and then I wanted to ask I think on page seven you talk about the continued public involvement which I think is great so we want to support that as much as we can and you've indicated kind of using the website, the county's websites, to help share that information.

[00:16:05] Are there any other methods? Are you looking to reach out to different community groups or working with others also? Because some might not have access, you know, to a computer or to a, you know, technology. So just thinking out loud in terms of how we cover those individuals as well.

[00:16:23] Yeah, so we, as far as the plan itself, once the plan is approved and approved by FEMA, We do make printed copies. We make them available as reference material in every library in the county. We did that with the last one. And then we've also paired this a few years ago.

[00:16:39] We brought in front of the board our Community Emergency Response Guide, or our CERG. All of the hazards identified here are identified there. And that is a public available document that we print and we have translated into multiple languages. And we have information in there about what people can do before, during, and after a storm.

[00:16:57] And that information lines up with what we have here in the hazard mitigation plan. Okay. I think that's really helpful. So thank you for sharing that. And the last point I would just make is I'm supportive of both items coming to the board. So I acknowledge that we need to take some action. And so we'll be happy to have those items come to the board if it's the next board meeting or the following, but as soon as we can.

[00:17:17] And so with that, let me turn it over to Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. uh first on the first i should say for folks who haven't read these documents one should uh they are very complete i think the one is up to what nearly 1500 pages so i know i read that this morning um yeah but but in all seriousness uh these are very well done this is a heavy lift and a lot of work and frankly after what we've been through the past couple years i'm glad that a lot more people are paying attention uh to these things than they were when we began this effort

[00:17:51] you know so so many years ago um but on first on the northern virginia hazard mitigation plan you mentioned that over half of the responses came from fairfax county and i recognize that you know those responses are now a year and a half old and so i'm just wondering if there was any common threads or themes that were identified in those responses that the board needs to be aware of i think that you've already proactively been aware of it a lot of it was the effort that OEEC is doing with the resilient Fairfax plan. It really had to do with climate

[00:18:27] change, climate adaptation, green space, the tree canopy. Those were the most significant comments that were brought up within the public comments. I appreciate that because that direct connection isn't necessarily in a lot of people's minds. And this is why we have the environmental strategies that we have in Fairfax County.

[00:18:52] I mean, they are a vital part of not only preventing disasters, but more importantly to understanding why these things are happening. This is real stuff that affects us financially and affects communities and especially vulnerable communities in a disproportional way.

[00:19:09] And so how these things link up to each other is a really important piece that we have to make sure we're connecting with our population, making sure they understand the connection between those two. And then the last thing on our county EOP, you mentioned a lot of the COVID-related updates, and we certainly learned a lot from that.

[00:19:29] One of the things we learned is, thank goodness, we had responsive plans when COVID hit. Not many jurisdictions had specific pandemic-related response plans like we had. But again, were there any high-level themes from that? I mean, you mentioned that a lot of the lessons we learned in COVID are implemented in this, But just for the board's awareness before we have to adopt an update, if there are any high-level ones that you wanted to share with us, I think that would be important.

[00:19:55] Yeah, so thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think the biggest thing that we learned was twofold. Obviously, the mental health capacity and ESF-8 and kind of the distribution of medication that we saw in the vaccination clinics. But the bigger portion that we learned was supply management and logistics.

[00:20:12] So I, you know, I kind of forgot to mention that our biggest, one of our biggest uproars, if you will, during this planning process was for logistics and supply management, because there are so many different methods and avenues that we were acquiring PPE from, it became incredibly complex.

[00:20:31] And I think the biggest lessons learned is that we just need to bolster our capabilities and kind of look at, you know, getting more people into the logistics section, which during COVID, we were able to bring people in from other agencies. But I think to support an incident and support our partners, logistics is going to be one of those things that's just going to be one of those difficult things that we have to contend with right there. So I think that's the one big thing that we learned throughout this process is that we'll have something, but we'll just see how it goes. Yeah, I appreciate that. And, you know, again, extraordinarily high rankings, as we know

[00:21:07] from our residents in terms of the COVID response, but also a huge opportunity for those things that, you know, where there were shortcomings, that we can work these into plans and be proactive about those moving forward and learn from those opportunities. But very well done and certainly look forward to supporting the updates. So thank you. Okay. Let me now ask if my colleagues have any questions. It looks like Supervisor Gross first. Thank you. And the Community Emergency Response Guide. It's just a terrific document. Terrific document. I'd like to be able to see if

[00:21:43] we get it a little smaller, but it's very popular and has such great information in it. But in looking, and I certainly think we are just go ahead and approve both of these, confident that all the work has been done. But my question really is on the emergency operations plan, which we have to submit to the state. On January, I think it was 4th of 2021, during that infamous blizzard, which affected jurisdictions south of us, not so much in Fairfax

[00:22:18] County, fortunately. But we learned an awful lot about what the state thought was responsibilities of local government that were not responsibilities of local government. So I'm trying to figure out as we, is this a plan that, you know, we submit to the state because that's what we're supposed to do. And the state says, thank you very much. You submitted your plan. You've followed the law.

[00:22:41] And that's where it ends. And they don't know what's in it because they didn't look at what their responsibilities are versus our responsibilities. So I'm trying to figure out how this becomes. For us, it's a living document. For our partners, sometimes it may not be. So can you address that a little bit? So yeah, we, you know, specifically for that event, They do have a work group that's headed by VDOT that is trying to make some progress, but there's always been kind of a split between what the local jurisdictions are saying and what the state kind of thinks may work.

[00:23:18] And so we continuously work with them. You know, they do have, they have increased staffing in their regional offices now to get a better handle on what is going on in the jurisdictions and to work more closely with us.

[00:23:34] So we have seen that start to bear fruit in some of our planning processes. You know, I do think that, you know, the EOP is really, for us, it's really kind of the framework of how we're going to respond.

[00:23:51] And for others, you know, while it gives some indication, I really do think those are conversations that we continue to try and have. And we participate in, you know, as many state meetings as we can across the spectrum of our plans to ensure that we're kind of speaking for, hey, here's what this means to us and here's what this looks like at the local level.

[00:24:14] And we've seen a few instances, to your point, where, you know, what we were trying to do and what the others were doing didn't line up until we got on the same page. So it just takes time. You know, the same thing happened with the Afghani repatriation efforts.

[00:24:31] You know, we were there working extensively and what we were trying to do versus what the feds wanted were different and we had to figure that out over time. So it's going to take a while, but I do agree that sometimes their expectations of what we should be doing versus what we are doing are two different things.

[00:24:48] And the problem really is some of those things you need to have done ahead of time. a good example with the I-95 incident was the need to open shelters. If you don't have a shelter opened in that amount of snow, you aren't going to get one open until that part of snow has been moved.

[00:25:05] And that was really the problem. But I think also, you know, localities can talk to their state folks, but I think localities need to talk to one another. We heard, you know, in at least one county to the south of us who was really heavily impacted, their county manager was sort of not even available.

[00:25:26] It was like, oh, is there a problem? As people were screaming at the Board of Supervisors and the county manager was really not engaged. And he's not there anymore, I don't think. But he still, there needs to be, I think, some additional discussion in between different county officials, you with, you know, Prince William, with Stafford and so forth, because that's often where the resources come from, not from the state.

[00:25:54] Supervisor Gross, I'd like to interject quickly. Seamus made some interesting points about the snow, about the Afghans, about the Nicaraguans. None of these, none of those were our issues until they came to Fairfax County.

[00:26:09] That's right. And even though they were in Fairfax County, they weren't supposed to be dealt with by us, but we dealt with them anyway, because that's what we are in Fairfax County. With regards to the snowstorm, I remember you calling me and asking me what we should do. And I looked at the map and it was, I think it was exit 140, which was Stafford County. I immediately called our deputy county executive and said, how do we get in contact with that, with the folks from Stafford down to, I believe it was 118. So Senator Cain actually tweeted to us

[00:26:47] and we were going to send a helicopter, but we thought better. Yeah. Well, again, it's building the relationships ahead of time before you need it and making sure everybody knows who's who. And if there's somebody who's up here who doesn't know what's going on in their own county, then shame on them. But everybody else has to sort of be aware that occasionally that will happen.

[00:27:12] And in this particular case, it did. And it took months and months and months, maybe a couple of years for some of our counties to our south of us to actually come out of all of that. I don't worry about that so much, Seamus, because you're here. Thank you. Okay. Any other? Supervisor Palachuk, please. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank all of you. I think happy to follow that because I'm sitting here wondering what happens if Seamus isn't here. And I think there's so much we learn. And I couldn't read the 1,200-page report. I think I read the 230-page one,

[00:27:52] most of it. And so I think there's a lot in here that's super helpful and that we learned. A couple of questions. I don't know if they're in here. Well, number one, I think some of our department heads have changed, including transportation, so we need to update that. You're on it. Perfect. Seamus isn't allowed to go anywhere. And then I think you have it in here, but I'm thinking through, we thought through most of the systems, the preparation in the emergency, and then I think it's important that we have the recovery phase in there, but we continue to learn from that.

[00:28:25] I think you have the coordinating agencies for most of the items that might come up. I don't know if it was in here. Some of it is logistical, as you mentioned, I think is critical. And part of that being we have, as you know, limited number of public facilities.

[00:28:42] I think it's excellent to think about the libraries. But as you know, we had to work with some privately owned ones, even if it was with state agencies like the vaccination clinics. So I don't know if that was in here, how to keep preparing for and thinking through facilities geographically, knowing where they are through time and being able to access them more quickly if we should need them.

[00:29:10] Yeah, so the way that works in the EOP is that we have each ESF, or emergency support function. And that support function, we identify a coordinating agency and then support agencies. And really, this just lays out the structure that that's going to operate.

[00:29:27] But the plan and where we would utilize would be that group would actually identify that. And one of the things that we have done is we've really, through some of our COVID stuff and our conversations, we've kind of increased the information that we're available in our volunteer and donations group and how we would utilize that group to kind of get resources that are given to the county or we need to identify and then try and ask the community for.

[00:29:54] That process has been built out based on some of our findings in COVID. And then one of the after-action items from actually the after-action report from COVID also talks to working with our nonprofit partners and better aligning with them. And that's helpful.

[00:30:09] I'm thinking of, like, suddenly you need to build, you know, public safety I think is used to having to do things pretty quickly, and some of our other agencies are more long-term. So just, I guess, maybe thinking through that. I know you don't want to be over-prepared because you don't know what you're going to need, But if we found that there was a system that would have helped us be more efficient in locating facilities and using them.

[00:30:31] So, yes, it was addressed in both the logistics section and in the housing and infrastructure. We did realize that maybe some contracts or contracting devices needed to be looked at. So through ESF 7, which is logistics, our Department of Purchasing Material Management has started to look into it.

[00:30:53] And also through updating the rules and responsibilities, both Department of Public Works cap in some of the stuff that they were doing, and then also within facilities maintenance, management rather, they also are updating how they're looking at getting leasing for Board of Supervisor-owned and managed facilities outside.

[00:31:20] The only other thing that I'll add is that we also worked with the county attorney's office because taking the example that you gave, Supervisor Pouchek, trying to find the community vaccination centers, right, was a super big challenge. So looping in the county attorney in coordination with FMD and our DPMM partners is kind of how we're going to, I think, proceed if we need to do a lease or something along those lines moving forward.

[00:31:47] Awesome. I'm not a logistician, so really appreciate the work into this. And then the only kind of looking forward, this is all very well thought out. As we see that there are components that we may want to have kind of visuals that are more for community or people coming in quickly who need to figure out what to do, if there are portions of this that would be helpful to have in a more accessible manner, I think you all know how to do that.

[00:32:14] You've done it well in the past, but those are very helpful. Yep, we can, we'll look into that. Thank you so much. Okay, thank you. Supervisor Faust, please. On the emergency response, I recall when we lost power in the county for, in some parts of the county, for a week.

[00:32:34] I think that was Dratio. There was a list somewhere of the facilities that needed to be restored, first, second, third, a priority list for restoration.

[00:32:50] I was unaware of the existence of that list until they started answering my screams for help. uh with you know we're working our way down the list this is the power company uh what is your participation in or do you participate in the preparation and approval of that list uh what outreach is done if you do to ensure that it's comprehensive because there were there were facilities back then that were i thought should have been you know on a list particularly on

[00:33:27] assisted living facilities and things of that nature uh is there do you have something on that So we do provide input to the power companies on the categories of how they should be stacked.

[00:33:44] The other thing that we do have through the 911 center and the emergency operations center is we have a direct line into their center where we can call in other information. So a good example is we've had in the past an assisted living facility that also lost its heating supply.

[00:34:06] So we were able to actually contact the power company and inform them of that, and it actually moved it up on the priority list. So we have the ability, through discussions and contacting them, that we can help kind of prioritize things. Sometimes, depending on the way the outage is, though, you know, if they've got to replace it from the substation out, it doesn't matter if you're at the end.

[00:34:28] They've got to replace the line to get to you. So some of it is they can do it because there would be a fuse or a problem locally. But if it's more of a transient problem across the whole line, then they really have to go back to the substation and work their way out.

[00:34:44] So it depends on how the power goes down. No, I'm more concerned about the list, you know, like all hell breaks loose and they got to start somewhere and then turn to the list and they start working their way down to ensure life's preservation type.

[00:35:04] Where is that list? Do you have, is that something that you have access to? Is that just the... utilities and they keep it close to their vest because I think that there's an opportunity for us to input to you know look at and say oh you know you don't have this or that and it also it should include and I think it does but I I don't know that because I haven't seen the list uh homes where people are you know relying on uh power for um you know they keep up medicines or or their breathing machines, things of that nature.

[00:35:41] I mean, there's a whole lot of information out there that you need to have in order to respond in the most effective, life-preserving way. Who knows what that is other than the power companies? So we have, again, worked with them on the categories.

[00:35:59] I haven't seen an address list of, hey, here's our priority ranking. Some of it is really dependent on where the outage is. You know, if it's a smaller section of the county, they can be a little bit more focused on those areas versus if it's a widespread outage.

[00:36:21] Again, if we're talking transmission line down, they really have to start at that main point and work their way out. But, you know, again, we have conversations with Dominion quite a bit, so we're happy to continue those conversations with them, and we'll see if we can get an address list from them that we can provide to the board.

[00:36:43] Also, as a secondary, I know Matt and I, we've been working with Fort Belvoir and the Army Corps of Engineers and their power unit at Fort Belvoir, and every year we've been working with them to do generator assessments, and we're talking about, like, generators that can power Inova, Fairfax, main campus, hospital, and we have a great partnership with them.

[00:37:11] they've come in and pre-planned a lot of our major critical infrastructure and are ready to roll with that. Those I can provide you with the list through the infrastructure group and office of OEC. I know that they have an infrastructure group that we're working on, and they're also prioritizing as it is. But as Seamus was saying, is the overall mission of the power company, and it will always be the same, is they're going to try and make an effort to restore the largest number of people in the fewest moves, which I understand that.

[00:37:47] But through incidents and events, we have called them and said, and I don't want to name any specific places to jinx it, but, you know, this facility needs to get power, and they have been great with us calling right to them and redirecting efforts. Okay.

[00:38:05] Are there any other questions from my colleagues? No? Okay. Thank you. So that concludes our first presentation. Thank you very much, Seamus Mooney and others. I appreciate your time today. So our next presentation will be for our citizen matrix working group.

[00:38:25] And I would go ahead and welcome them up to the table as well. So I won't give a lot of background on the matrix because I know that this is a part of the presentation that we will be receiving from the group today. But I'd just like to, again, thank my colleagues for their concurrence on the board matter that Supervisor Alcorn and I did that brought forward the creation of this public safety community input matrix.

[00:38:52] And I'd like to specifically thank Chairman McKay for his support in organizing a citizen-led committee here to help us synthesize the more than 300-plus recommendations that it has received. And the hope is that we will craft those into a set of policy recommendations that this board can take up and consider.

[00:39:16] And then finally, before I move specifically to the presentation, I would like to also make one other point. I'd like to thank Chief Davis. I know he's not here, but he's represented by Deputy Chief Eli Corey and Captain Hines.

[00:39:34] And I want to thank them both for their support and serving on the committee to be a resource to the panel. Additionally, I'd like to make the point that this presentation, again, will inform a series of presentations that we will receive later this year.

[00:39:53] And Chief Davis will have an opportunity to provide a response to the recommendations that this matrix group has consolidated. it, and we will have an opportunity to hear from the matrix group here.

[00:40:08] But let me just identify who the participants were, because I want to personally thank them as well for this effort. Diane Alejandro is here. Sadiq, here. I don't hear. Thank you. Dirk Hargraves, I didn't see Dirk.

[00:40:26] Prince Howard, thank you. It's good to see you. Mary Kim, I don't see Mary. Okay. Jennifer Lockwood Chabot, thank you. Phil Najewski-Eichner, thank you.

[00:40:42] The convener, Adrian Still, thank you as well. Eric Ubias, and Dr. Vernon Walton, I see you here. So thank you very much for your participation. So with that, let me turn it over to Phil Najewski-Eichner. Thank you.

[00:40:58] Pleasure a lot. And good afternoon, board members. Good afternoon. My work in this area dates back to the 2015 Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission. I chaired the Use of Force subcommittee, out of which were made many recommendations that have since been directed by the board and implemented by the police department.

[00:41:19] These include recrafting the use of force policies, which now speaks to the sanctity of human life and gives emphasis to de-escalation as a first response to provocation, giving officers access to tools less lethal than firearms, supplying and requiring the use of body-worn cameras, and strengthening use of force reporting and transparency.

[00:41:42] The work of the Police Practices Review Commission was just the beginning, and fortunately, we all understood that it would be a mistake to declare mission accomplished. Other initiatives followed, including the one we are addressing this afternoon, about which Pastor Walton and I will discuss shortly.

[00:41:59] Pastor Walton, you have some opening remarks. Yes, good afternoon. Good afternoon, everyone. Let me first begin by publicly acknowledging the hard work of our Chair, Phil. He's too modest to take credit for this. But many of us approached this assignment unaware and, quite frankly, concerned about how we would arrive at a product.

[00:42:20] However, his guidance was measured, tempered, and most certainly effective. I want to place in context and provide background for the work that we have engaged in in hopes that its importance and the urgency of the matter is not lost. Supervisor Lusk, in his capacity as Public Safety Committee Chair, asked the community for input and recommendations on police reforms.

[00:42:43] This request came in light of twin pandemics that we were faced with as a nation. We're wrestling with a major health crisis compounded by racial unrest. This racial unrest largely birthed as a result of the world literally watching in May of 2020 the murder of George Floyd, a black man by a white Minneapolis police officer who held his knee on his neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds, cutting off his oxygen, while several other officers stood by as co-conspirators and did

[00:43:19] nothing to prevent or to assist. This awareness and level of heightened sensitivity was felt here in Fairfax County as all communities, not simply communities of color, were energized. Many protests took place and many of you that sit around the table marched as well. In addition, citizens, Advocacy groups and the like began to take a real close look at police reform and the use of force policies and practices in our own backyard to determine whether we were serious about these reforms.

[00:43:54] This introspection caused us to have some really hard and uncomfortable conversations as community leaders, policymakers, faith leaders, and citizens. While Fairfax County has made progress and in many instances it is viewed as a model county, we are not immune from constructive critique.

[00:44:15] There have been several commissions, committees, task force created and reports generated and many support or echo the sentiments of the University of Texas at San Antonio findings. Black and brown individuals are more likely to experience force.

[00:44:32] Disparity in arrest and population demographics is significant and can indicate a pattern of police behavior or racial profiling. The dramatic rise in police shootings over our 10-year average is cause for concern and warrants reflective conversation about the sanctity of all lives.

[00:44:51] Trust is paramount, and where there is an erosion of trust, it is difficult for a community to be its best self. Jasper Aaron Lynch, Timothy McCree Johnson cannot simply be names added to a list, but their names and particularly their deaths should propel us to greater reflection, rigorous reform, practical policy, and a more caring community.

[00:45:15] In the words of the famed poet James Baldwin, not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. This report, I am hopeful, puts us closer to the change that's needed to be felt by citizens who have long felt the weight of a system that has not been representative nor reflective of their ideas, thoughts, or concerns. Thank you, Pastor. And you put the context in place for this

[00:45:50] discussion of the matrix and the working group's role. Supervisor Lusk, you invited 10 of us to participate in the Please Perform matrix working group. And as you have introduced, many of us are here today. And thank you for introducing everyone. These members are from a variety of backgrounds, including faith leaders, advocacy groups focused on police reform, individuals who have served on prior Fairfax police reform committees and working groups, and importantly,

[00:46:27] those with lived experiences in communities often most impacted by policing. Each of them represents why Fairfax is so fortunate to have such capable and committed community members, and I thank them. The working group also benefited from the active participation of ex-officio members. Deputy Chief Eli Corey and Captain Robert Hines representing the police department, Stephen Richardson representing the civilian review panel, and Richard Scott, the independent police officer, auditor. Ex-officio members participated in discussions but did not participate

[00:47:03] in establishing priorities or making recommendations. As a way of background, I can do this quickly because the chairman covered a lot of these points. The response to the call for community suggestions was substantial and substantive.

[00:47:26] The suggestions were captured in a spreadsheet that came to be called The Matrix, and it's a compendium of over 300 ideas offered in a range of formats, styles, and descriptions. Adding to The Matrix's bulk, the police department has reviewed and commented on most of these suggestions.

[00:47:43] Most would agree, and despite efforts to organize it further, the matrix is cumbersome, diffuse, and not easily accessed and understood. Recognizing the limitations of the matrix as a tool to help the board assess further changes to police policy and practices, our working group was convened to synthesize these recommendations from the matrix into a proposed action plan for the board's consideration.

[00:48:11] The proposed action plan recommends initiatives that meet for considerations. Does it provide policy or program-level direction that can be acted upon by the board or the police chief? Is it a policy or program-level initiative with the potential for significant positive impact?

[00:48:30] Is it evidence-based, which can include a member's lived experiences? And finally, is it consistent with national best practice, or does it have the potential of becoming national best practice? The recommendations in the proposed action plan meet these criteria and organizes them into the following eight categories.

[00:48:49] Pastor Walton and I will highlight these recommendations in each of the eight categories. Let's start with the first category, Rethinking Policing.

[00:49:14] Numerous recommendations in the matrix focused on the need to shift non-safety responsibility to clinical and social service professionals for addressing low-level crimes associated with mental health, substance abuse, other behavioral disorders, and homelessness. The public, through the matrix, understands that historically, police have largely, by default been tasked with being the first responders when behavioral health crises arise as the board already well understands this unduly burdens police officers pushes them to perform tasks for which they are not professionally trained and unfairly criminalizes the affected population

[00:49:53] the board the police department the sheriff's office and the department of health and human services are making important progress in addressing these concerns continued and further progress can be made, however, through a full expansion and implementation of the Diversion First and co-responder programs.

[00:50:12] In regard to use of force in policy and accountability, this continues to be a work in progress in the working group's view. The working group's use of force recommendations are anchored in previously board-chartered work on the police department's use of force conducted by the University of Texas at San Antonio, as mentioned by Pastor Walton, and evaluated by the Use of Force Community Advisory Committee following the UTSA analysis.

[00:50:43] Reports by UTSA and CAC were presented to this committee two years ago, and their Use of Force recommendations are integrated into the matrix and warrant active reconsideration. Both UTSA and CAC recommended considering an alternative standard to objective reasonableness for acceptable police use of force. We recommend moving to a standard where use of force must be, in principle, necessary and proportional as an alternative to objective reasonableness.

[00:51:17] We also recommend that pointing a firearm be considered and documented as a use of force. Finally, with regard to use of force, we commend the county for key policy and program reforms, such as the de-escalation policy that are being implemented, but encourage the evaluation of their effectiveness and appropriately strengthened.

[00:51:40] Pastor Walton, I know you have some thoughts on this. Thank you, Phil. Our recommendation is for the board to consider the enormous amount of work that the CAC committee has already done. Several of the recommendations, some of the recommendations were previously adopted by the CAC committee by General Order 540, published in 2022, but most of those have not been adopted in full.

[00:52:10] Pointing a gun and any other threatened weapon should be reportable use of force action and subject to review. Last but not least, as relates to use of force policy and accountability, we're asking that the board directs that a foot pursuit policy be established with community participation. Specifically, we're asking for this adoption to take place in the short term, 30 to 45 days that a foot policy with community consultation be adopted through the issuance

[00:52:43] of a standard operating procedure memo. With regard to independent oversight, the recent increase in officer-involved shootings and deaths engendered within the working group a sense of urgency and a greater openness to the independent oversight recommendations found within the matrix.

[00:53:03] The civilian review panel needs independent investigatory authority to ensure that it provides robust police accountability. Virginia law once precluded assigning this authority to the CRP, but two years ago the General Assembly gave localities the authority to increase such enhanced civilian oversight. We recommend a two-pronged approach of granting some expanded authority to the CRP immediately and directing that the CRP and the independent police auditor draft a coordinated plan for implementing full extended authority by a date certain. Pastor

[00:53:41] The increase in officer-involved shootings in the past year and a half have caused tremendous concern, particularly that of Mr. Johnson and more specifically the questions around the investigation. It's clear as we have looked at the documentation and have heard from community members, as I'm sure many of you have as well, it's clear that there are many questions about independent investigations and what exactly that means.

[00:54:09] Investigations that are free of bias and whether or not that exists in these matters. This board was courageous, and I must commend you on your efforts, and you were out front to establish the civilian review panel long before many other jurisdictions began doing so.

[00:54:28] But the panel is only as good as the authority that the panel has. This board, this body, is responsible for the parameters of the panel. And the community is asking and this committee is asking that you open the lanes of that of the responsibility of the civilian review panel and give the panel independent investigating authority that is now permitted by the Virginia General Assembly.

[00:54:56] Thank you. With regard to police officer excellence, as the board knows well, attracting, training, and retaining a highly capable, highly performing, and resilient police force offers the most fundamental and essential means of assuring Fairfax County residents that their safety will be protected, as well as their rights.

[00:55:19] The police department has well-established policies and programs around recruitment, training, readiness, and performance for developing and maintaining police officer excellence. Indeed, the department just recently convened its largest and most diverse recruitment class in years.

[00:55:36] The working group offers recommendations derived from the community's input to improve the department's policies and programs such that this recent recruitment success is followed by retaining highly effective police officers who are accountable for their performance, embrace their responsibility to protect the total community, and have access to services that help them maintain a readiness to perform a physically and mentally demanding job.

[00:56:05] Finally, a 2018 workplace survey performed by George Mason University, you may remember this, of the police department personnel demonstrated the value of monitoring the department's operating culture, including attitudes about work, leadership, training, and equipment, along with any perceived barriers to officer performance consistent with the department's values and policies.

[00:56:30] We recommend surveying the department personnel on a regular schedule to allow for monitoring changes over time. Such information also provides a basis for a dialogue between and among police officers, supervisors, and the command structure.

[00:56:48] With regard to community engagement and participation, community members engage with the police department when they play a meaningful role in the deliberations, discussions, decision-making, and or implementation of projects or programs affecting them.

[00:57:03] The literature identifies the benefits to authentic engagement, including an increased likelihood that projects or solutions will be widely accepted and will be more effective, and most importantly, will promote building a trust relationship. The police department has over the years designed and implemented numerous programs and initiatives to engage with Fairfax County residents on policy and program matters.

[00:57:27] However, we believe that more can be done to effectively engage community members, particularly those who see themselves as marginalized. The working group synthesis of matrix recommendations builds on the One Fairfax policy to recommend practices that will ensure robust engagement from diverse members of the community.

[00:57:49] Pastor Walton. Community partnerships are vital to build to our success. Engagement is how we build trust. People love to feel heard, and there's a tremendous sense that many voices are not being heard.

[00:58:06] following our recommendations. We're asking that you consider conducting customer service audits with community input. These audits would take place after traffic stops, encounters with police officers, and these audits would be reviewed by a community advisory group and published annually for review. We recommend that you welcome community members with diverse backgrounds and varied lived experiences that we might build greater coalition that people might again be able

[00:58:40] to feel heard. And then finally, establishing a protocol for regular community participation to include, and not limited to, listening sessions, information on training, and policy development.

[00:58:56] So on a very related basis, there is the matter of transparency, data reporting, and data analysis. The public expects and deserves transparency and accountability in return for us to the special powers and extra authority entrusted to law enforcement. The police department's stated ethic of predisposition to disclose remains an elusive goal in the eyes of the informed and interested public. Fairfax County Police Department has made great strides in providing

[00:59:31] open data now with dashboards for public dissemination. The current public data, however, discourages year-over-year comparisons, lacks, in our view, standardized formats, and rarely includes measures of disparate treatment among classes of community members.

[00:59:49] Additionally, the department leadership needs to be consistently careful offering premature judgments or information about an incident that is either exculpatory of an officer's behavior or judgmental about a person of interest due to previous law enforcement history.

[01:00:06] Recommendations from the community that are highlighted by the working group will help support transparency and data reporting and analysis, all of which will increase the community's confidence in the department's policing practices and procedures. Both the community and CAC recommend looking at the department's specialized police units for the policy framework within which they operate and their operational history.

[01:00:37] The recent shootings by officers of the Tyson's urban team prompted the working group questions regarding the use and practices of the 34 specialized units established within the department. The working group recommends that a subset of these specialized units, those which might have the strongest community interest, be examined for their value, impact, and practices, particularly as it relates to potential disparate treatment of people of color.

[01:01:07] And then finally, as the county executive knows well, monitoring and evaluating program progress is an essential component of local government management. The basic questions are, is the program designed to achieve better policing in Fairfax County accomplishing its or their intended purpose?

[01:01:26] Are the resources being put into the program being well used? And what lessons are learned through the implementation that will make the program that much better? The best and most useful program evaluation is data-driven, which is a key reason our report gives such emphasis to collecting quality police department performance information.

[01:01:50] In closing, we offer these overall thoughts and recommendations. The department's stated mission is to prevent and fight crime in a manner that protects and preserves the sanctity of human life, a remarkable mission statement. Noteworthy practices to achieve these goals are protecting constitutional rights, engaging in de-escalation as a first resort rather than use of force, employing crisis intervention strategies, providing independent oversight of police performance, and affirming a duty

[01:02:23] to intervene if an officer sees another officer using excessive force. We recognize that the Fairfax County leadership has since 2015 approved policies and practices consistent with these principles, but as I stated earlier, the county cannot yet declare mission accomplished. Perhaps we shouldn't expect it ever to declare mission accomplished. In recognition of this reality, we recommend, again, that the county continue to rethink the fundamentals of police practices,

[01:02:59] in particular use of force and in distinguishing criminal behavior from mental and behavioral disorders. Empower the civilian review panel with expanded oversight and investigatory authority in coordination with the independent police officer and auditor. Focus on disparities in enforcement practices as relates to people of color. Expect full transparency to include collecting and reporting on additional data on the interaction of police officers with people they encounter for law enforcement purposes. And finally, to ramp up efforts to engage and

[01:03:35] communicate to build trust and community confidence. The working group welcomes the opportunity to remain actively engaged, and we offer our continued service. And now I ask Pastor Walton to bring our presentation to a close. Thank you, Phil. Again, we thank you for your time today. And if I'm transparent, I came to this process reluctantly because I didn't want to serve on another committee or another task force that would produce a body of work that would ultimately sit on a shelf without the possibility of becoming a living document.

[01:04:07] But I came to the process, one, because I believe in political will, and I believe that this body has the political will to do what is right. Secondly, I came because I was compelled by moral conviction when I remembered the words of Martin de Moller, the German theologian and pastor, who said, first, they came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one

[01:04:47] left to speak for me. So today we present this document along with the enclosed recommendations on behalf of the residents of Fairfax County. We are hopeful, tremendously hopeful, that you will give it not only your full consideration, that it will lead to further discussion and ultimately the adoption of the actions therein. Respectfully ask that you are bold and courageous and do it without delay. In the words of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., there comes a time when one must

[01:05:23] take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular. He must take it because conscious tells him it is right. We stand ready. We offer ourselves to assist in an ongoing manner and we thank you for the time. We want you to know the follow-up is critical and we are willing to offer ourselves accessible and available to aid in the process. Thank you. Thank you very much, Pastor Walton, and also thank you very much, Phil Majewski-Eichner. Very nicely done. Let me,

[01:06:02] I apologize, Richard Schott. I see you sitting right in front of me. I introduced every single person, and I left you out. That was not intentional, I promise you. So it's great to see you. Oh, that makes me feel better. Jeez, I was like, he's looking right at me.

[01:06:19] So thank you for your participation in your service as well. So let me quickly, I'll just make a couple of points, and again, appreciate the work of the committee, appreciate all the time and the commitment that you put in to this exercise and I'll say very frankly it was a pretty big task and I acknowledge with all those recommendations trying to figure out how to synthesize them and and and make them into an actionable group I see that you have done that so thank you for that time and I commit to you that we will take this seriously I commit to you that this is something that this board has

[01:06:59] already been serious about. On the points that you made, and I'll just go through a couple of them, I think we're going to have to give Chief Davis an opportunity to look at all these as well, and we'll have an opportunity for him to come back and provide some feedback and some acknowledgement of what actions or steps can be taken. But on the rethinking policing, I can tell you this is one that's a high priority of this board we just had a nip that came that gave us some very good information about the status of the corresponder model we've been working

[01:07:38] diligently to try to hire the clinicians that we need and I'll be frank here this is a tough task this is a hard task getting the personnel that we need but we do have three of our four units up and running so we need one more unit to cover the entire county and we are aggressively aggressively working on this.

[01:08:00] And this is something that I've talked to Tom about. I've talked to our Deputy Director for Human Services and Health in the back. So this is something that we definitely are working on. I appreciate the point that you made on the University of Texas at San Antonio and the recommendations that we got there.

[01:08:22] We said they were going to become a base part of the matrix. made it clear that we wanted to get an answer on every single item. That was always the point that we made. And to your point here, you're making the very same point, and we will ensure that that happens. And we know, we know that a number of the issues that we have to work on are training.

[01:08:48] You've identified those. And de-escalation and figuring out patience, time, distance, and cover, All of those things are important to helping to reduce uses of force. On the independent oversight, I just want to make a point here that we have been working very diligently with our civilian review panel, and I think they can attest, those members who are a part of it can attest that we have hired an executive director and we've now got an assistant to that director to help in the work that they're trying to do because we see the importance.

[01:09:25] We see the importance of helping them build out their infrastructure, and we certainly see the points that you are raising here around granting them additional and expanded authority, and this board even talked about this last year.

[01:09:42] So we are certainly aware, and we have this even on our radar as well, just so you're aware. I won't go through all of them, but I'll just make the point here on the transparency and data. This is crucial, and this is vital.

[01:10:01] I mean, if you want trust and accountability, you need to have transparency of the data. So we understand this fundamentally as a part of the ethos of the work that we're trying to do in support of police reform here in Fairfax County.

[01:10:18] And our department, and I'm going to give credit to the police department, they have worked diligently to figure ways to share more data. And I'm sure, to the point you made, Phil, we can continue to make progress. This is not something that just stops.

[01:10:35] This is a document that's not completed. It will continue to evolve and improve over time. So I just want to acknowledge all the points that you have raised, and I have read them clearly and carefully and understand what the request is.

[01:10:55] and we will be working to bring back to this body the responses from the department and then the responses from this board. So with that, let me hand it over to Chairman McKay for his questions or comments.

[01:11:14] Thank you, Supervisor Lusk, and thank you for the document and for the work that was put into it. I know it was a heavy lift. I, you know, we certainly just received it, and obviously we don't take action in committee meetings, and so there's a lot in here and a lot to follow up on.

[01:11:33] As Supervisor Lusk acknowledged, of course, we'll want to hear from the Chief and his response to some of these things. And clearly, some of the recommendations in here are, you know, things that I believe the Chief is already in the process of working on, And I would hope that would be a part of the responses, you know, where we stand on some of these things.

[01:11:53] Because to the points that you were making, this is an ongoing exercise. We want to constantly improve every day. And I do think it's fair to say, certainly since 2015, this is a far better department today than it was then by every measure.

[01:12:11] And I want to acknowledge that and say that to be a great police department, you have to constantly evolve, constantly look at best practice, constantly learn lessons from experiences that literally are happening every day of every minute in this county.

[01:12:27] And so I do want to acknowledge that this report will be helpful for us in looking at each and every one of the recommendations in here and being able to respond back with what it is we want to move forward with here as a county and what the answers are to some of the suggestions that are in here.

[01:12:48] I will acknowledge that there are a lot of ongoing other reviews. You know, obviously, we have a request in place looking at a foot pursuit policy that the chief launched. And I think that's important to do because clearly, after what happened in Tyson's, it's obvious that a foot pursuit policy is something we need to look at.

[01:13:10] That being said, I also know that there are some really bad foot pursuit policies in place in this country. and very few of them. I mean, a handful of departments. And so in a standard Fairfax County way, we want to be deliberate and put in place not just a policy, but the right policy.

[01:13:29] And the right policy will take some time to develop with expertise, with community engagement, and with some of the other things that will be necessary to make sure that we don't just put in a policy and check a box, that we put in a policy that's effective, that's transparent, that people understand and so you know there's a lot a lot to chew on here i think the work and the product is outstanding certainly gives us a lot to consider i do appreciate the acknowledgments of many of the improvements that have been made to date and for people watching you know i think if

[01:14:03] we had a very simple way to display where we were and where we are today in a simple way i think we're in a place where people in this county demand but also would be delighted to see that we have come so far and that we never acknowledge that our work is finished. And frankly, I think any department that acknowledges their work is finished is making a grave mistake because that work doesn't finish. I think the only thing that gave me pause in the entire presentation that Pastor Walton and I share a passion for looking at best practices, reforms, other things that we

[01:14:38] can put in place and a passion for the underlying goals that are here. But I would certainly hope that nobody in this county would feel like participating in one of these panels would create a report that would sit on the shelf and be ignored because that is not the reputation of this board and that is not what we have done. And I just want to make sure that's crystal clear because we do not waste people's time. We want them to be engaged in the process. We want them to see results of the work that we're doing and I certainly will speak for this board and say that has been what we have been doing. Maybe that has not always been the case in the county but that

[01:15:17] has been what we have been doing and certainly the chairman's task force that was acknowledged in here I mean just as recently as last week we got an update from Carla Bruce and her team on the progress that's being made there. So again we want diverse involved voices involved in decision making in the county and we want to encourage them to be involved and to have them understand that their recommendations this board takes seriously and will be held accountable for the actions that are taken or not taken by the larger community and so let me just wrap by saying i you

[01:15:51] know this the report that's what 42 pages uh every word uh in this report will be reviewed and will be transparent responded to this board will consider all of the recommendations that have have been made in here. We'll hear from the broader community on those things. Some will have budget implications. Some may have legal implications. Some may just have county policy challenges that we have to overcome, but that doesn't mean we won't look at every single thing in here and be responsive to it and to the community. So again, thank you for your work on

[01:16:26] this report. I know it was, as I said earlier, a heavy lift, but I think looking at each of these items even the ones we may agree to disagree on at the end of the day makes our department better and makes our county and community better so thank you for that thank you mr chairman um any of my colleagues supervisor alcorn thank you mr chairman um i want to thank the working group uh for your efforts on this um this is not easy this is this is uh complex um fraught with emotion with

[01:17:05] experience, human experience, that basically provides perspective on these issues that I think really nothing else we deal with in Fairfax County really covers the whole range of issues here. So I want to point out a couple things. First of all, I do very much appreciate the recommendations.

[01:17:36] As the chairman said, several of which are moving forward. I know the chief is moving forward. The co-responder model, several of those things are priorities of this board. I very much appreciate that. And I think at this point, I think they're pretty much consensus reform.

[01:17:54] So I think that's a huge step. The one thing that, and Pastor Walton, you referenced this in your comments, the recent trend of officer-involved shootings. And, you know, we have experienced in Fairfax County four fatal incidents.

[01:18:19] Each one is different. Each one has its own situation. Each one is properly investigated. The criminal justice system moves forward in its own way. But whenever we have the number of OAS shootings, fatal shootings, approaching the number of homicides, non-domestic incident, homicides in our community,

[01:18:47] We have a problem, and I think we are hopefully addressing that problem, certainly with Chief Davis's note to ask the Police Executive Research Forum for assistance. I look forward to that, but I think, at least for me, and I think it's probably true of all of us, not just on the board, but in the police department, this trend is not acceptable, that it has to change.

[01:19:22] I understand we have an armed populace, so, you know, that is another complication on this issue, but this is something I do look forward to the response from the chief on all the recommendations, but in particular, what can be done to reduce the number of OISs.

[01:19:42] So, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Supervisor Alcorn. Supervisor Herity. A couple of questions. Was there anybody on the task force working group that's ever walked a mile in the shoes of an officer?

[01:20:02] No. No. Okay. Anybody from the broad community outside the police reform community on this working group? I'm sorry, say that, ask the question again. Anybody from the broad community at large outside of police reform individuals working on this working group?

[01:20:21] I don't know. You'd have to ask them. Okay. You know, I agree with a lot of things in the report. There's some good ideas in this report. I certainly like the training, the focus on training.

[01:20:40] But I think the problem with this, and then sending it directly to the chief, we don't have broad community input into this. We've got a group of police reform folks that got together and hasn't heard the other side of the impact.

[01:20:58] Every survey I see of our community and our residents shows very high confidence in our officers, very high confidence in our officers in fact i may keep wanting to call you major cory i could call you captain cory and a whole bunch of other things um don't we deputy chief deputy chief aren't we doing surveys of people we stop traffic stops on aren't we already doing that yes sir so we have a uh a company called my 90 yeah uh that we uh get community feedback from people we have just interacted with okay and have what what has that shown so far this is a people that have been

[01:21:34] pulled over. Correct. So I've been pulled over. We've come in contact with them. All right. So I've been pulled over. And how many of those have had a positive response? So we're in the high 80% of positive feedback. So almost 90% of the people that are in a bad situation being pulled over have a positive response. I don't have a positive response when I get pulled over usually. I have a positive response with the officer, but not necessarily a positive response. Anyway, are there any, to the task force again, any indication we're having any issues with our specialty units?

[01:22:09] A couple responses to these recent inquiries. These two gentlemen were active participants in this working group as ex officio members.

[01:22:26] Not in the recommendations, though. Of course. But they were active participants. So they had the awareness of the recommendations. So, for example, if there was a recommendation that we were advocating or it was advocated by some member of the working group, there was that opportunity to react to that recommendation and provide additional insight, additional information.

[01:22:48] There was also the independent police auditor as well as the community or the civilian review panel executive director. So there was that opportunity for kind of independent outside perspective on the discussions that were taking place.

[01:23:09] In terms of the perspective that was brought to the table, for me it's difficult for a categorization of a group of people of the manner in which you're describing.

[01:23:28] What the task was is to take 300-plus recommendations that came in from the community, openly invited by the board, collected by the board, and to adjust those 300-plus recommendations to what this is a recommended action plan.

[01:23:50] So when you call for broader community participation, I don't know how you can be more broad than invite input from the community. Well, let me ask this, sir. I know there were some recommendations on compensation, retention, and recruitment.

[01:24:07] I don't see... Madam, just add, supervisor, I think personally the characterization is absolutely incorrect. I do not consider myself to be a police reform person. Well, thank you for that. I have experience, and I speak daily to people who encounter police. Secondly, I have personally been stopped in Fairfax County.

[01:24:24] I've never been asked about my experience by this company. Thirdly, as our chair has indicated, the officers were at the table, and this is the very first time that we are hearing of this particular company. Last but not least, I will just add that this report does not indicate by any stretch of the imagination that we do not have confidence in our officers.

[01:24:46] We are grateful for our officers, and we think that every officer who serves should be applauded. Every officer deserves a right to go home. And this report, by no stretch of the imagination, indicates that we lack confidence in our Fairfax County Police Department.

[01:25:02] What we do recommend and note is that there are some things that need to be addressed. Thank you, Pastor, for that statement. And I wish that had been included on the first slide, because that is an important statement. It's a very important statement. So I thank you for that. We spend countless hours together.

[01:25:18] We're very much on the same page. We may agree difference in the outcome. Absolutely. but we are absolutely on the same page. That part needs to be said. And I applaud you for saying it. I thank you for saying it. One thing that wasn't on here that should make it through, in order to have the best police department and a truly high-class, top-notch police department, which we have had because we've been the best and people have wanted to come here, we need to address retention, compensation, and recruitment.

[01:25:48] I didn't see that anywhere in here because it is in there. There it's in there. It's in there. Did I miss it? compensation, retreatment. All right. Thank you. I missed it. The other piece that I think needs to be in there, we're going to have a complication coming up because we've adopted collective bargaining. And as one of our recent chiefs reminded me, he went to a community that has collective bargaining agreement. He said the one thing, the biggest thing he missed about Fairfax County is that in Fairfax County, you could get rid of bad cops. And we're going to have challenges because we've included discipline as a part of the collecting bargaining agreement.

[01:26:28] So that is something we all need to keep an eye on, and we need to watch that collective bargaining agreement very closely for that because that is one we're on the same page with. And nobody dislikes a bad cop more than a good cop because it brings them all down.

[01:26:46] So that is something we have to be careful of as a group. I'm glad to hear we're getting the chief's response. It's absolutely important that we get that. I wish we had a little more broader community response than this before it got to the chief, but happy to see that it's gone to the chief.

[01:27:04] And, again, I appreciate your statement, Pastor, and I appreciate the work and look forward to having a conversation if you ever want to. I welcome it. So, yeah, Supervisor Harry, that was always the intent. Even when we first started this exercise, that the chief would respond, very similar to what we did with the University of Texas at San Antonio's report.

[01:27:23] So let me now move to Supervisor Gross, please. Thank you. Appreciate the work that's been done. I must say that when we debated and discussed the Citizen Police Review Panel back in, what is it, 2015, there were concerns that the CRP could morph into an entire department or agency.

[01:27:47] That's not what the board wanted or approved. We prefer to have a simpler program that would provide for additional community input and understandable and reasonable time conclusions. And I'm not sure with what's been presented here that we would actually get to a reasonable and time-sensitive conclusion.

[01:28:10] I do think, you know, I've talked to a lot of officers sharing space with the police department, with a police station, of course, all these years. Most of them, and to a specific question from me, most of them have never even had to unholster their weapon except at the range to requalify.

[01:28:30] So it is not like we have every officer or a whole lot of officers pointing their weapon at somebody. It is getting more dangerous out there. We know that. But when we talk about trust and accountability, I think we need trust and accountability for our officers, too.

[01:28:51] And I don't want our officers second-guessing themselves in an emergency situation because of some of these proposals. I'm glad that we're going to have the chief take another look at it. I do have some questions about it, and I don't want to take the time right now, but I'm wondering if we have the kind of sort of budget Q&A kind of thing.

[01:29:14] I'm not going to go to Christina. If we have questions about some of these recommendations and ideas, to whom should we send them to you or send them to somebody in the police department?

[01:29:31] Supervisor Lusk, I would, Mr. Chairman, I'd rather have it go directly to someone in the police department. I'll accept that. If it's a question that the board wants to have answered, please send it to Eli Corey. Okay, that's very good.

[01:29:46] I think it needs to go directly to someone in the police department who can then get the answers back to us similar to what budget Q&As do before the next time we do this. All right. Thank you very much. That's perfectly fine. Any other colleagues?

[01:30:04] Supervisor Walkinshaw. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and appreciate the working group's work on this, extensive work. You know, one thing that I'll just highlight, not to get into all the recommendations, The use of force policy and the general order language around use of force has been a priority of mine for several years now, and I do appreciate, I think, the progress that we've made.

[01:30:27] I mean, I felt very strongly that our use of force policies and general orders as it relates to use of force were confusing for officers and weren't clear in terms of what our intention was, and I think this highlights we still have some progress to be made there.

[01:30:44] I do think that there is a necessary step here, and it doesn't have to be before. I don't think it needs to be before the chief shares his thoughts. But I do think we need a broader engagement with the community on this. And I know Phil and others who were involved in the ad hoc commission, there were meetings open to the community and town halls open to the community.

[01:31:10] I don't want to put more of a burden on the volunteers on the working group who have already been doing a lot of work and a lot of hours, but I represent almost 130,000 people that haven't had the opportunity to weigh in on the matrix recommendations yet. And for me, at some point, that's a very necessary step in the process.

[01:31:31] And maybe if the working group is willing to help work with us to facilitate that, I think that could be really valuable. Okay, we can definitely work on defining that process, Supervisor Wackenshaw. I think we have a couple of options for that. Supervisor Foster.

[01:31:47] Thank you. Yeah, and I think there's a lot of time to get into the specifics of what's been presented. There's so much detail. I think, first of all, I want to thank the team that put it together. And I feel confident that there's been a lot of outreach.

[01:32:07] We've been talking about this stuff for a long time. My takeaway from today is we want this to be the most positive process. We can't get defensive. I mean, you know, different people have different opinions.

[01:32:25] They see things differently. They're from different perspectives. This is the most significant thing we do, public safety and the police. And it is absolutely everyone's right at this table and in this community to have an opinion.

[01:32:42] and those opinions should be based on facts it's our job to get the facts out there i think we're on a good road a good process but i would just simply say let's keep it positive you know we've come a long way when you think where we were you know 10 years ago uh what was eight years ago everybody worked together and we have come a long way we've got our police department is we're all very proud of our police department. We're all very proud of the citizens who are focused on

[01:33:18] making it even better. So that's all I'm going to say. Let's keep it on the high note and not get defensive over things that we might not agree with. Thank you for that comment, Supervisor Faust. And Supervisor Smith. Thank you. You know, I think we all sit here because we want to ensure we have policies and procedures that ensure the safety of our public and our police. And so how How do we work together to get to that place?

[01:33:50] You know, you can't imagine the viewpoint from a person in the public that has an incident, but also the instantaneous things that happen for our police. So how do we work together to build that? So I look forward to us getting more information and digging into the details of how we do this.

[01:34:08] Thank you. Thank you all very much. So with that, this will conclude the meeting, and I appreciate all of our speakers and all the guests. for coming and we will be back to you soon with updates

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