The Alexandria City Council voted 5-2 to approve changes to the Independent Community Police Review Board ordinance, bringing an end to a years-long process to get the board fully operational.
The approved changes include limiting the board’s subpoena power to documents only and requiring City Council approval for investigations when there’s disagreement between the board and the independent auditor.
Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley, who co-led a subcommittee to develop the recommendations, explained the changes address two key issues that had stalled the board’s progress.
“The auditor has the ability to subpoena things and by things, the kind of things you would use in an investigative report. Body worn cameras, ring cameras, photographs, sketches that people have made,” Bagley said.
The approved ordinance does not allow the auditor to subpoena individuals, including police officers, for testimony.
The second major change establishes a process for resolving disagreements between the board and the auditor about whether to pursue an investigation.
“In a situation where the auditor has declined or potentially chosen to pursue an investigation and the board disagrees with their decision, the board will take a vote,” Bagley explained. “If a majority of it agree… if it’s in conflict with the auditor, it will come to city council and the city council will determine and direct their employee, the auditor, whether to take or not undertake that investigation.”
The changes come after years of delays in getting the board fully operational. The city passed a resolution creating the effort in 2020 following George Floyd’s murder, established the board and auditor’s office via ordinance in 2021, and hired the auditor in December 2022.
Councilman Canek Aguirre, who served on the subcommittee with Bagley, emphasizes the need to move forward.
“We can’t even get to the next step, which is to decide whether or not this board is doing something good, accurate, bad, needs changes, because we don’t even have anything,” Aguirre said. “We don’t have a fully operational board.”
The board’s chair, Christopher Lewis, testified against the changes, arguing they undermine the board’s independence and effectiveness.
“Returning the board to power to initiate investigation back to city council begs the question, why have an independent review board?” Lewis asked. “All powers around investigation would be removed and the only function left is to share an opinion.”
Lewis also advocated for maintaining full subpoena power, including the ability to compel witness testimony.
Several community members spoke against the changes, including Ingus Moran, a board member since 2021 and lead organizer of Tenants and Workers United.
“The proposed ordinance represents a significant step backwards because it ignores the concerns and needs of the community members who work for years to enact better accountability for law enforcement,” Moran said.
Councilman Abdel-Rahman Elnoubi, who voted against the changes, explained his position: “To me, it’s not that I don’t think we need to move forward. I think for me, it really came down to the answer I got from the auditor on Tuesday that there may be situations where they may need this tool, and I wanted them to have that tool.”
Councilwoman Jacinta Greene, who also voted no, expressed similar concerns about limiting subpoena power.
Supporters of the changes argued that subpoena power for testimony would be ineffective due to legal protections for police officers under Garrity rights, which prevent compelled testimony from being used against them.
Amaratu Kamara, the current auditor, explained that subpoenaing officers would likely be counterproductive.
“Subpoena power would actually prolong the process because once a subpoena is issued, the officer will have the ability to hire an attorney,” Kamara said. “Should the subpoena then be issued and the officer does have to show up, they still wouldn’t be able to be compelled to testify or provide any information.”
Mayor Alyia Gaskins, who voted for the changes, says she weighed what would best achieve justice.
“I think the end goal is we’re trying to get justice and what are the tools we have that are going to allow us to achieve that,” Gaskins said.
The council also agreed to require a report from the auditor in one year to assess how the process is working, including data on how often subpoena power for documents is used and whether there were situations where the ability to subpoena individuals would have been helpful.
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Correction: An earlier version of this story had incorrectly stated that Councilman John Chapman had voted no. Councilman Chapman voted yes, Councilwoman Jacinta Greene was the other no vote.
