Arlington's 1st Independent Policing Auditor Hired By County Manager

Arlington VA

27 May, 2022

9:52 AM

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ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz appointed Mummi Ibrahim, a native of Sudan, as the county's first independent policing auditor, a position in which she will provide staff support to the newly appointed Community Oversight Board, the county announced Friday. Ibrahim will work with the Community Oversight Board to conduct independent audits of police operations, receive complaints from members of the public, and participate in investigations as appropriate. Most recently, Ibrahim served as a senior staff attorney at the Advancement Project, where her work focused on policing issues, including litigation trainings for lawyers seeking to represent people who have experienced harm due to police misconduct. In 2021, the Arlington County Board established the Community Oversight Board to improve transparency, accountability and community trust in the Arlington County Police Department. The Community Oversight Board will have the ability to independently receive, investigate, and make recommendations in response to complaints from the community. Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz appointed Mummi Ibrahim as Arlington's first independent policing auditor. (Arlington County) The ordinance also called for the hiring of an accompanying independent policing auditor to support the work of the board, whose members were appointed by the Arlington County Board in March. The board consists of seven voting members and two non-voting members with experience in law enforcement. All Community Oversight Board members are residents of Arlington. READ ALSO: Arlington County Appoints Members To New Police Oversight Board As an organizer and staff attorney at the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, Ibrahim ran a campaign to end the practice of sentencing juveniles to life without parole. In this role, she organized a coalition comprised of hundreds of impacted community members and several social justice organizations to lobby for sentencing reform, drive a statewide legal strategy to end juvenile life without parole sentencing, and establish re-entry services. She has also worked with the City of New Orleans Independent Police Monitor, overseeing disciplinary hearings, data collection and policy reform within the New Orleans Police Department. Ibrahim, a native of Khartoum, Sudan, received a bachelor's degree from Hampton University and a juris doctorate from Howard University School of Law. In early March, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill that would have allowed the Arlington County Board to pick the independent police auditor. The bill had easily passed the Republican-controlled House of Delegates in a 65-35 vote earlier this year. The bill then passed the Democratic-controlled Senate. The bill applied only to Arlington, where state law currently prevents the County Board from direct employment of any staff beyond the county manager, county attorney, clerk and auditor. Because the Arlington County manager appoints the police chief and has supervisor authority over the Arlington County Police Department, the bill aimed to lessen any appearance of conflict and support the police auditor's independence. With Youngkin's veto, both the new police auditor and Arlington's police chief will report directly to the county manager. RELATED: Arlington Hopes To Clear Youngkin's 'Misreading' Of Police Bill