Where do Arlington police chief finalists stand on defunding police, accountability?
Top contenders for Arlington police chief faced the public Thursday evening in one of the final rounds of the selection process.
The five finalists fielded questions on how they would react to excessive use of force incidents, what accountability measures they support and how they would connect with the community. Finalists from Arlington are interim police chiefs Jaime Ayala and Kevin Kolbye, as well as Tarrick McGuire, deputy police chief. Out-of-state candidates are Cmdr. Jason Lando of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and Baltimore County Police Col. Alexander “Al” Jones.
Ayala, Kolbye and McGuire drew on their experience with the department. Local candidates differed on whether they would support a citizen oversight board with subpoena power — one of Arlington NAACP’s requests of candidates.
All candidates condemned racism and implicit biases in policing, while promising to demand integrity from officers. While none of the officers went as far to say racism is ingrained in all policing practices, they acknowledged that vestiges of bias exist in every institution.
“We can only train the mind. We can’t train the heart,” Jones said. Agencies must address implicit biases by having “open, honest, courageous conversations” about issues, he said, while practicing vigilance about warning signs of discrimination toward minority groups.
The finalists also cautioned that any effort to “defund the police” — that is, reallocating resources outside law enforcement — must also include ensuring other agencies are equipped to take on those responsibilities, especially in responding to calls about homeless people and those experiencing mental health crises.
“I think this is something that is a national dialogue that we need to have,” Kolbye said.
If selected, Kolbye said, he would like to explore creating a unit dedicated to mental health-related calls.
No candidates support granting subpoena power to a citizen oversight board, a topic that the City Council has discussed during recent afternoon work sessions. Arlington NAACP members asked City Manager Trey Yelverton that the city only consider candidates who are open to forming a board. However, most candidates supported some form of public insight into police practices.
Neither Kolbye nor Ayala necessarily support an oversight board, but Ayala said he is more open to creating an input process after meeting with the Unity Council the city has employed to examine systemic inequities across the city.
“They have asked a lot of really good questions that have given us the opportunity to look at things in a difference lens that in law enforcement, we don’t typically look at,” Ayala said.
Asked about whether their names were affiliated with a Brady List, or a roster of officers who have withheld information or lied during court cases, both interim police chiefs said they are unsure whether they’re still on the list. Both rebuked the list as an improper evaluation with no chance for implicated officers to appeal.
“None of the officers identified in these improper evaluation reports have a recourse to challenge what the prosecutor wrote on those evaluation seats,” Ayala said.
Establishing community relationships also took a center stage at the event. Lando said he’s focused on improving officer relationships within Pittsburgh Police and the community. One of those efforts, he said, included inviting representatives from different communities for dinner.
“We used this group to guide our decision-making as to what programs to create so we weren’t giving them what we wanted to do, but giving them what they wanted from us,” Lando said.
Local candidates discussed the plethora of programs and social media campaigns Arlington Police lead to reach out to family and residents.
“Your community and workforce need to know that they can reach you and ask questions and be in the know,” Ayala said.
The public session marks one of the final steps of the several-month search to replace Will Johnson, who retired from the post June 1. City staff will select a police chief by early November, according to city press releases.
