The Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) Community Engagement Division has already been busy the first week of October engaging the community through two Coffee With A Cop events on Oct. 2 as well as an Essentials Drive on Oct. 4.

Chief Andy Penn says the conversations at Compass Coffee Wednesday afternoon ranged from parking to traffic and crime statistics. The coffee shop was crowded with customers balancing their honey turmeric lattes and police officers chatting about everything from sports to schools to neighborhood bike thefts. 

Penn said, “We have a new crime portal that I’d like to bring to people’s attention. I want everybody to know what is happening.” He explains the numbers report crimes by timeframe, trends, civic association and type. “People feel safe in Arlington. But if you look at trends, there has been a large shift in shoplifting and people stealing cars.” He says if he had one thing to tell people it would be to lock their cars and the doors of their homes. 

Jim Perry, who has lived in Arlington since 1944, says he thinks there are fewer police than there used to be. Penn agrees that he is understaffed. “I think I am the first chief to ever make service cuts to the community. But when you call 911, we come. I think our present system is working well.” He has had to focus on prioritizing crime over other areas like parking enforcement or traffic stops to make maximum use of his staff.

Penn says he holds these Coffee with a Cop conversations at different locations throughout Arlington to find out what the community feels the ACPD can do better. 

Friday afternoon, Oct. 4, outside the police station on Courthouse Road the ACPD held a fall Essentials Drive with several tall cardboard boxes lined up to fill with clothes and hygiene products to hand out to vulnerable individuals before the winter season begins. ACPD had requested backpacks and clothing items such as socks, stocking caps, gloves and T-shirts as well as hygiene supplies such as toothpaste, combs, soap and shampoo. The idea was to stuff the backpacks with the essentials and hand them out fully loaded. Detective Malone who was working with Arlington DHS officials on distribution of the supplies said, “Last year was different. I gave boxes and boxes last year but this year people just aren’t donating as much. I won’t have as much to give out.” And she says they aren’t getting many backpacks so will have to just give out bags of supplies.

Colonel J. Burgess says some people stop by and find out what is going on and head to a store nearby and come back with hygiene products to donate. “A little earlier a woman who is staying around the corner in the Homeless Services Center dropped off a couple of things because she wanted to contribute to the community.”

The ACPD Community Engagement Division also holds a number of other community events throughout the year including “Fill the Cruiser with Holiday Toys” and “Fill the Cruiser with Food Supplies” which are donated to Arlington Family Assistance Center (AFAC). This summer they held a basketball tournament with Arlington youth in a local park. It’s all part of an effort to increase understanding and build trust between the community and police department.