The following statement was posted to the Alexandria Police Department’s social media platforms on June 25:
The Alexandria Police Department remains deeply committed to ensuring safety, health, and quality of life for every resident in our city. To achieve this, we must confront the challenging realities facing our community with both clarity and a commitment to real solutions.
Recent incidents have exposed a reality that many have been unwilling to confront: the challenges surrounding our homeless population are not merely housing issues; they have become public safety issues, public health issues, and quality-of-life issues. For many years, I have seen direct evidence that our city is receiving more than its fair share of challenges surrounding homeless and unhoused populations. I include a personal witness of other communities dropping off their most challenged population in downtown Alexandria. I further include preliminary intelligence, indicating widespread patient brokering and/or dumping of addiction-challenged patients in Alexandria. And finally, I have seen evidence of human trafficking and out-of-state transferring of at-risk populations to Alexandria.
๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
The hard truth is this: compassion without accountability is not compassion at all. Giving cash to people struggling with addiction at an intersection, tolerating criminal behavior, ignoring open drug use, and accepting individuals living indefinitely on the streets is not helping anyone. Instead, it perpetuates addiction, mental illness, victimization, and difficulties for our community. It keeps those vulnerable individuals trapped in a cycle of misery while placing an increasing burden on law-abiding citizens.
The Alexandria Police Department recognizes that most unhoused individuals are not criminals. However, the people of Alexandria should reject the notion that experiencing displacement or lacking a permanent residence excuses criminal conduct. It does not. Every individual is responsible for their actions. Poverty is not a license to steal. Addiction is not a license to victimize others. Being homeless is not a shield from accountability.
๐๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ
The Alexandria Police Department will continue to enforce the law aggressively, protect our neighborhoods, and pursue offenders wherever they are found. However, law enforcement cannot solve a problem that society continues to subsidize, excuse, and normalize. We cannot arrest our way out of a culture that rewards dysfunction and punishes accountability.
If we are serious about solving this problem, we must stop enabling destructive behavior and start demanding real solutionsโtreatment, intervention, accountability, and a path toward self-sufficiency.