Regional mutual-aid agreements do not require Arlington agencies to support federal policing efforts in D.C., County Board Chair Takis Karantonis believes.
The federal government is not a signatory to those agreements, and even if a request came via D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, it would receive close scrutiny, Karantonis said at a Tuesday luncheon of Arlington Senior Democrats.
“We have agreements, but we also have political oversight,” Karantonis said. Any request for support “needs to be scrutinized — we are not just going to automatically comply,” he said.
Those remarks came the same day President Donald Trump invoked executive authority to take control of the Metropolitan Police Department. D.C.’s home-rule charter gives Trump the ability to retain control for 30 days but his administration is asking Congress to extend that period.
In June 2020, county police were dispatched to D.C. to support U.S. Park Police efforts to quell what federal officials described as civil unrest in Lafayette Square near the White House. It was among a large number of protests held nationally following the murder of George Floyd.
“We were all shocked to find out” Arlington police had been activated to support the effort, said Bob Platt, who heads Arlington Senior Democrats.
Those personnel were removed from the scene at the direction of the County Board. The chair of the Board at the time, Libby Garvey, said federal officials were misusing mutual-aid agreements for a “photo op” showing heavy police response to the incident.
In the wake of that 2020 episode, Board members changed policy to require authorization from the body before dispatching public-safety personnel outside the county’s boundaries.
“There is no [staff] autonomy on deploying anybody in mutual-aid agreements — the County Board has to make the decision,” Karantonis said.
Authorization was provided for a detachment of county police to provide support at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. This was to protect property, Karantonis said.
“We are not going to support any action that goes against people,” he said.
The Trump administration’s most recent actions in D.C., including the deployment of FBI and National Guard personnel, have drawn flak from the region’s congressional delegation. But given Republican control of both houses of Congress, the all-Democratic regional delegation may not be able to stop legislation giving the executive branch control beyond the statutory 30 days.
In his remarks, Karantonis said mutual-aid agreements have many positive uses. He pointed to the regional response after the airplane-helicopter collision above the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport in January.
More than 90 different public-safety agencies coordinated the response to the crash, which killed 67 people.
Karantonis was first elected to office in a 2020 special election, winning a full term in November 2021. He is seeking re-election in a crowded field on Nov. 4.
Arlington Senior Democrats is an ad-hoc group that meets monthly at Busboys & Poets in Shirlington, typically to hear from elected officials or candidates.
