Re: Arlington Police restructuring

[Dewey]

Sorry if this is not the appropriate sub-forum to post in, Arlington PD is publicising a departmental restructuring, a briefing document mentions “a new Community Outreach Unit will no longer attend individual community, civic and homeowner association meetings but will host North and South quarterly meetings.” Also “there will be a reduction in officers available to investigate traffic complaints reported by citizens.” Was wondering if this might make it more difficult to communicate cyclist concerns to the County Police?

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[Emm]

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They already actively ignore cars and buses parked in bike lanes, so I can’t see this changing much of what is already going on traffic-enforcement wise in Arlington.

(Above photo of a bus completely blocking the bike lane was taken on Eads St. The police officer was in is his car hanging out while multiple bikes were forced into busy traffic)

[bobco85]

@Emm 178238 wrote:

They already actively ignore cars and buses parked in bike lanes, so I can’t see this changing much of what is already going on traffic-enforcement wise in Arlington.

This question just came to mind: is the reason (IME having lived/worked in Arlington) police don’t tend to enforce parking violations at least partially due to the fact that a parking enforcement unit exists? I imagine that it allows the police to focus on more important situations.

Also, is the parking enforcement unit a part of the police, or is it its own separate entity? IME I have only seen them on weekdays during normal business hours, so I wonder if increasing their force and/or time range of operation could help solve this problem.

[Emm]

@bobco85 178241 wrote:

This question just came to mind: is the reason (IME having lived/worked in Arlington) police don’t tend to enforce parking violations at least partially due to the fact that a parking enforcement unit exists? I imagine that it allows the police to focus on more important situations.

So, I get not enforcing general parking violations, like staying past your time limit in a metered spot. But ones that involve obstructing traffic and causing dangerous situations seem like they would merit a response if they are seen when driving by or hanging out in your car. Honestly, if a cop just rolled down their window and said “hey get out of the bike lane”, that’s all that would be needed to fix the situations 99% of the time.

[rcannon100]

@Dewey 178235 wrote:

Was wondering if this might make it more difficult to communicate cyclist concerns to the County Police?

No this will not make it more difficult to communicate cyclists concerns with ArlPoPo.

Next question?

[Judd]

Even before the realignment, Arlington PD has stated that parking enforcement (particularly of bike lanes) isn’t a priority. Cops have a lot of discretion when they’re on patrol and tend to focus on doing the things that they’re specifically directed to do.

For some background, Arlington is having trouble filling it’s authorized positions because it has (IIRC) the second lowest pay in the surrounding area. Starting salary for Arlington cop is $54,932.80 which is less than even DC’s starting salary of $55,362. It’s not a whole lot of money around here especially since some aspects of the job (shift work, dealing with irrational people, risk of death, working a crash scene) really suck.

[rcannon100]

@Judd 178247 wrote:

For some background, Arlington is having trouble filling it’s authorized positions because it has (IIRC) the second lowest pay in the surrounding area. Starting salary for Arlington cop is $54,932.80 which is less than even DC’s starting salary of $55,362. It’s not a whole lot of money around here especially since some aspects of the job (shift work, dealing with irrational people, risk of death, working a crash scene) really suck.

Next question: There has to be a back story here. 25 years ago you did not dare to run a red light in Arlington. Now, traffic enforcement is a joke. And its been a joke for a while. It’s clear that the police do not get the support they need to do enforcement. The question is why.

[Dewey]

@rcannon100 178246 wrote:

Next question?

Will the Fire Dept and Sheriff continue the formerly known as Arlington Police block party now ACPD are withdrawing participation? Loved going to that event last year with Kidical mass Arlington.

[Author]

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