Police Chief Brown Announces Retirement
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Alexandria Times Vol. 17, No.23 Alexandria’s only independent hometown newspaper. JUNE 10, 2021 WILSON WINS Police Chief Brown announces retirement DEMOCRATIC Citing family issues, APD head plans to depart on June 25 PRIMARY BY CODY MELLO-KLEIN Three council incumbents, 2021 Alexandria Police Department Chief Mi- three newcomers secure slots chael Brown announced last week that he on November ballot would be retiring at the end of the month, BY CODY MELLO-KLEIN AND citing ongoing family issues. Brown’s re- OLIVIA ANDERSON tirement marks the end of the law official’s 45-year career, the last four of which were The result of Tuesday’s spent helming APD. Democratic mayoral prima- Brown leaves the department after a ry looked similar to 2018, challenging year, as the city and nation as Incumbent Mayor Justin have started to rethink the role police play Wilson defeated former May- in communities across the country in the or Allison Silberberg in a re- COURTESY PHOTO match, though by a consider- SEE BROWN | 10 Chief Michael Brown. ably wider margin than three years ago. Wilson won the 2021 Dem- ocratic mayoral nomination Virginia Theological with 13,005 of the total 22,734 votes, or 57.21% as of press JUSTIN WILSON time. Silberberg received Seminary pays reparations 9,729 votes, or 42.79%. Ultimately, 23.03% of the city’s 98,728 total registered voters cast votes in the primary. Cash payments to descendants of prise and elation. Wilson will go on to face Republic mayoral nominee enslaved workers began in February Though she heard murmurings that the Annetta Catchings in the Nov. 2 general election. BY OLIVIA ANDERSON seminary had been in talks about distrib- “I’m pleased with the turnout; I’m pleased with the uting cash payments to the descendants total,” Wilson said in an interview outside Pork Barrel When Frances Terrell was first ap- of enslaved people who helped build the BBQ in Del Ray. “… We’re certainly excited; we’ve got proached about participating in a repa- 198-year-old institution, Terrell said she work to do over the next three years. November is still rations program the Virginia Theological didn’t expect anything to come of it. ahead of us, so we’ll work to turn out the vote and make Seminary had been working on, she said she sure we have a good victory.” experienced an emotional cocktail of sur- SEE REPARATIONS | 12 Wilson secured the victory in 25 of the city’s 30 pre- cincts, not including the absentee precinct, while Sil- INSIDE berberg won five: City Hall, Lyles Crouch School, George Mason School, Chinquapin Park Recreation Center and Schools Port City Flavor Students and staff celebrate the end of Enjoy a diverse selection of brunch SEE ELECTION 2021 | 6 a challenging school year. options at local eateries. Page 16 Page 19 2 |JUNE 10, 2021 ALEXANDRIA TIMES Our Clients Say It Best! “We cannot recommend Bonnie and Courtney more highly as your next Realtor! They have helped us both buy and sell a house, and we couldn’t have been happier with their outstanding service and professional expertise. They were always accessible and easy to work with, and their advice was consistently proven invaluable. As buyers, we were fortunate to have been given a referral to The Rivkin Group from a friend who had worked with Bonnie to buy their dream house in Old Town, and she did an amazing job helping us purchase our home in Fort Hunt. When it was time for us to sell, we knew we had to call The Rivkin Group - and Bonnie and Courtney exceeded our very high expectations. They were extremely informative, insightful, patient and responsive throughout the entire process and thanks to their great recommendations and strategy, we received competitive offers and sold our house within 1 week for $70,000+ above the list price! Needless to say, we could not be happier with this outcome and owe it to Bonnie & Courtney’s diligence, successful track record and Alexandria expertise. If you’re looking for an agent to help you buy or sell, we strongly recommend you call them today!” -Jeff W. Bonnie & Courtney Rivkin [email protected] We are proud of our successful track record in this www.rivkinresidential.com market and would love to put our expertise to work b: 703.598.7788 for you. Contact us if you’re considering a move! c: 703.869.7788 Compass is a licensed real estate brokerage that abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Compass is licensed as Compass Real Estate in DC and as Compass in Virginia and Maryland. 1004 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 | 703.229.8935 WWW.ALEXTIMES.COM JUNE 10, 2021 | 3 WEEKLY BRIEFING Police combat shots fired incidents Heating & Air Conditioning The Alexandria Police several ghost guns from a dents, 11 of which transpired 703-683-1996 Department Criminal In- shootout that occurred on over the same January to May vestigations Division task 28th St. in the West End on time period last year, during force has taken major steps Sept. 13, 2020. Two suspects the early months of the to combat shots fired and were arrested and several COVID-19 pandemic. shooting incidents, accord- were wounded. According to Last year, two shots fired ing to a news release. the release, ghost guns are incidents occurred in June, In fall of 2020, Alexandria unregulated, privately made four in July, five in August, 11 Celebrating experienced a spike in shots firearms that anyone can ac- in September, nine in October, fired incidents, prompting cess without a background 11 in November and two in 40 Years in APD to create the task force, check because they lack com- December, according to APD. consisting of detectives and mercial serial numbers. In 2019, 18 shots fired Alexandria investigators. According to This year, APD has con- incidents occurred between the release, since October firmed a total of 18 shots the January and May months 2020 the task force has con- fired cases from January to and 19 between June and De- fiscated 39 firearms, made the end of May 2021. Five cember, totaling 37 cases. more than 35 arrests and occurred in January, two in For more information, or www.rbincorporated.com executed over 195 search February, three in March, to report a tip, visit alexan- warrants on people, homes, five in April and three in dria.gov/police or call 703- phones and vehicles. May. In 2020, there was a 746-6600. The task force recovered total of 55 shots fired inci- [email protected] ACPS seniors receive $525,000 in scholarships The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria awarded more than $525,000 in college Alexander's scholarships to members of the T.C. Williams High Lawn Services School class of 2021, accord- ing to a news release. This is the largest amount awarded for first-year scholar- Yard Services ships in the fund’s 35-year his- tory, according to the release. • Weekly Lawn Care • Landscape The 183 scholarship recip- Design • Tree and Shrub Planting & ients will attend schools such Pruning • Mulch Spreading • Tree and as Duke University; Virginia Stump Removal • Yard Clean Up • Yard Tech; the College of William & COURTESY IMAGE Waste Removal Mary; Howard University and Scholarhip recipients and financial supporters during a Zoom award the University of Michigan. ceremony on June 3. Building Services On June 3, the recipients and financial supporters Scholarship; Mikias Elias, $550,000 in renewal scholar- • Fence Design, Building and Staining • gathered in a virtual Zoom who received the Collis ships to help past recipients Patio Building (Brick, Flagstone, Pavers) ceremony to celebrate the Warner Family Foundation in the T.C. classes of 2018- • Deck Building, Staining and Repair • awards. Some recipients in- Scholarship; and Leonel 2020 during their coming col- Retaining Wall Building • Carpentry Work clude Sara Abbas, who re- Naves, who received the SFA lege years, totaling more than • Gutter Cleaning • Power Washing for ceived the Titans in Tech Alexandria Retired Teachers $1 million in scholarships to Patios, Walkways, Siding Scholarship; Karam Bur- Scholarship. T.C. Williams graduates this jas, who received the Wal- Later this summer the year, according to the release. We serve the entire DMV area. We go where the ter Scott Downs Memorial SFA will award an additional [email protected] job is. Our priority is client satisfaction. We care about the quality of the work we do. CORRECTION: In the June 3 edition of the Alexandria Times, the Times captioned the photo of the week as the Contact Alexander at: 571-505-2602 and George Washington National Memorial, instead of the George Washington National Masonic [email protected] Memorial. The Times regrets the error. 4 |JUNE 10, 2021 ALEXANDRIA TIMES WEEKLY BRIEFING Bicyclist dies in Telegraph Road crash A 24-year-old bicyclist Del Carmen Alvarez, entered dead at the scene. The in- died in a crash on Telegraph a crosswalk at the Franconia vestigation is active, but po- Road on June 3, according to Road intersection and was lice said in a statement that Fairfax County Police. struck by a 2020 GMC Savan- speed and alcohol are not The accident occurred na driving north, according likely contributors to the ADOPTABLE PET OF THE WEEK just after 11 a.m. when the to police. crash. bicyclist, identified as Fatima Alvarez was pronounced [email protected] Sheriff Dana Lawhorne to receive Lifetime Valor Award The Chamber of Com- merce will honor Sheriff Dana Lawhorne with a Life- time Valor Award at the 2021 Valor Awards, on June 22 ac- cording to a news release.