Arlington County Police reducing services due to officer shortage

ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - The Arlington County Police Department is reducing services due to a significant reduction in their workforce, Arlington County Police Chief Charles "Andy" Penn said in a video message on Tuesday.

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"Arlington remains a safe place to live, work and visit and the incredibly dedicated and professional men and women of the Arlington County Police Department work each and every day to make a positive difference in the lives of those we serve," said Chief Andy Penn. "I am confident that despite our service adjustments, we will continue to work in partnership with the community and remain proactive in ensuring public safety."

Arlington County says it is imperative their goal is to facilitate a sustainable work-life balance for officers while focusing their investigative and response efforts around more serious criminal incidents and concerns across the community.

In order to achieve this, the county says they have reallocated some assignments to prioritize response to core services.

Officers will continue responding to in-progress crimes and emergency calls for service where there is a threat to life, health or property. It is anticipated the community will notice service impacts in the following areas:

- Prioritized investigative follow-up on crimes against people and serious property crimes.

- Reduced investigative follow-up on some property crimes, particularly when the incident lacks solvability factors.

- Late reports of applicable non-emergency criminal activity will be reported using the online reporting system or telephone reporting (703-228-4300) in lieu of an in-person officer response. This is a change first initiated during the pandemic.

Despite these adjustments, ACPD says they remain committed to:

- Maintaining operational readiness and preparedness to respond to any public safety incident that occurs in Arlington

- Ensuring the orderly flow of traffic in the county

- Proactively recruiting qualified candidates to join upcoming academy classes with the ultimate goal of returning the department to full staffing as soon as possible

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For additional information and resources on the police department’s service changes and reallocation of resources, click here.