Crime Down in Alexandria, Police Chief Says

PHOTO: Alexandria Police Chief Earl Cook speaks to the public at Thursday night’s Community Meeting/image is a screen grab from video streamed online by the police department.

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ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Crime in Alexandria went down in 2015 by about 2.5 percent, according to Alexandria Police Chief Earl Cook, Jr., who spoke to the public in a community meeting Thursday night held at police headquarters and streamed online. Statistics will be out soon.

The City saw four homicides in 2015, the same as 2014, he noted. Arrests were made for two homicides in the Del Ray area and police are continuing to investigate two homicides in North Old Town, he said.

Officer living in the community

One way that police are keeping crime down in North Old Town, Cook noted, was by having a police officer move into the neighborhood; he said the area saw about a 70 percent drop in crime since then, as Officer Ellis connected with the community.

In response to a question from an audience member who asked if more weapons or guns are being used in local crimes, Cook said that at least anecdotally, “yes, we have seen more people who are armed.” But he also noted that some people committing crimes may be using BB guns or possibly fake guns that look like real guns, but there is no way to be able to tell the difference when a crime is being committed.

Getting word out quickly about crimes

He also noted that word is getting out more quickly about such crimes due to the Internet. “We’ve being more communicative with the community,” he said, noting that the police department plans to have more community meetings throughout the year.

Cook said that officers try to get people the help they need if they are having a problem with substance abuse, alcohol or mental health issues instead of taking them to jail. The department is also using preventative measures to keep crime to a minimum, with such techniques as crisis intervention training, the creation of a 10-week youth academy and community policing, he said.

Training new officers

Training continues, he said, for such things as active shooter situations so that the force is prepared for any sort of emergency. Many -- 85 percent -- of Alexandria’s police force do not live in the City, Cook noted, saying that some live in Maryland and Stafford County. New police officers take about 14 months to train, he said.

Charles Severance

Cook counted getting serial killer Charles Severance off the streets as a “fabulous success story” in 2015. “There was a tremendous amount of work” done, he said by detectives and prosecutors on the case. Cook said police “took someone off the streets who was very dangerous.”

Body-worn cameras

Body-worn cameras will likely be used at some time by the police in Alexandria, once details are figured out with the community (on issues such as privacy and intrusion) on creating a policy and the City on cost, Cook said. “The citizens will decide if they want to pay for it or not.” He said introducing dash-cams would be redundant if it’s decided that the department will use body cameras.

Businesses

Investing in a surveillance camera system is a good idea for local businesses, Cook said. Local businesses have been very cooperative with police in helping solve crimes by sharing surveillance footage. The police department works with more than 100 business and civic groups to help deter crime, he noted.

Watch the meeting here (it begins at 7.25 minutes) click on the volume to adjust sound.