Law Enforcement Leaders Share Upbeat Report on Public Safety - Loudoun Now

During the Loudoun County Crime Commission’s 10th annual state of law enforcement luncheon, representatives of the county’s agencies lauded their cooperative spirit and the community’s low crime rate.

The Oct. 8 forum at the Belmont Country Club included leaders of the Sheriff’s Office and the police departments in Leesburg, Purcellville, and Middleburg.

“It’s been a challenging couple of years for law enforcement. It has been challenging for everybody, law enforcement as well. It is not just with the pandemic but with the other things that are going on in society today,” Sheriff’s Office Lt. Col. Bob Miller said.

While serious crimes have been on the decline, law enforcement agencies have been expanding their community outreach, including efforts to improve response to cases involving domestic violence and mental health crises.

Middleburg Police Chief A.J.Panebianco, who serves as the president of the Virginia Association of Police Chiefs, said a lot of work in being done statewide to promote higher law enforcement and hiring standards, including changes needed to ensure that bad cops let go by one agency aren’t simply passed on to another.

He agreed that mental health response is a major concern.

Loudoun Sheriff Mike Chapman “has set a very high bar in responding to mental health crisis in Loudoun County. It is not that way across Virginia. It’s often not the law enforcement agency’s fault. I blame the state,”Panebianco said.“Across the state, mental health is in a crisis. It is in a horrible crisis in some areas.”

The chief said the primary problem was the decision by Alison Lang, the state commissioner of theDepartment of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to close state mental hospitals because of low staffing. That leaves local law enforcement agencies to hold individuals needing temporary mental health holds for up to 72 hours, sometimes in handcuffs.

“I just think it is a travesty. We not serving at all if we’re doing that and that’s happening across the state,”Panebianco said, noting that the chief’s association is hoping for an Attorney General’s Officer opinion that would reverse that decision and is lobbying for hirer pay for mental health workers.

PurcellvilleDeputy Chief Dave Dailey also noted a desire to work more closely with mental health professionals, but said police should not be taken out of the response loop.

“I think we should partner together. I think we would all welcome that.… but I think removing police and the sheriffs altogether is very dangerous, for the worker, for the people who are receiving services,” Daily said.

While representatives of all the jurisdictions highlighted declining crime stats, Dailey voiced frustration in combating the town’s top public safety challenge: drivers being unable to maneuver around the Main Street/Berlin Turnpike traffic circle.

“In Europe, people drive through traffic circles all the time. [But here] they haven’t figured out how to drive through traffic circles because our number one draw on resources is accidents at the traffic circle. We will continue to work on that,” he said.

The core repeating theme as the administrators spoke during the program was the strong cooperation among the agencies

“I have never been prouder to be associated with law enforcement than I am being associated with law enforcement in Loudoun County,”Panebianco said.“Nobody does it quite like it is done up here.”

source: https://loudounnow.com/2021/10/20/law-enforcement-leaders-share-upbeat-report-on-public-safety/

Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.