Good afternoon friends!

For most of my career as a public health doc, my charge was to improve the health and wellbeing of communities.  Over time, as we came to better understand what moves the needle on health outcomes, we focused our efforts on addressing the social determinants of health— things like access to quality education, stable living wage employment, family and community support systems, and housing and the built environment.

It was this broader understanding of health that ultimately compelled me to run for office, and on the campaign trail, where i spent 6 months spending every day talking to thousands of Richmond residents about what was important to them— the theme of neighborhoods and housing was central. 

Most pointedly, the challenge of housing affordability, as everyone-- from long-term generational residents of neighborhoods like mine, to college students, to middle aged working class families-- expressed how difficult it is getting for them to stay in the city.

Richmond has undoubtedly been on the rise over the past decade, and as a result, people from all over the country have discovered what we have all known for years about our city—that Richmond is an amazing place to live. 

All of that attention has led us to a housing crisis, as tens of thousands of new residents have found their way to Richmond.  The problem is that we haven’t built tens of thousands of new homes, and that has driven the cost of housing up precipitously.   

Back in January, I announced a comprehensive plan to address Richmond’s housing crisis built around two goals: more homes for more people and helping residents stay in their homes.

And when I look back over the last 7-8 months, I can see how, together, we’ve made some really remarkable progress.

• Working with City Council, we established predictable funding for the affordable housing trust fund, setting aside 2.5% of real estate tax revenue for the construction and preservation of more affordable housing for more people. 
• We continue to strengthen the administration of our anti-displacement tools, from owner-occupied home repair and rehabilitation programs to crisis-response funds to real estate tax relief for older adults and people with disabilities.
• And we are building a stronger, more resident-centered partnership with RRHA, including a new framework for the redevelopment of Gilpin Court that will serve as a template for how we will work together to accelerate redevelopment in ALL of our public housing communities.

Now, it is time to finalize another important piece of the work.  As we plan for the future of our city, it turns out that so much of what contributes to the health and wellbeing of a community-- safe and affordable housing, green space, making neighborhoods more walkable and bikeable, increasing access to mass transit-- is actually baked into the rules that a community creates to define the built environment-- our zoning code.

Our current zoning code was adopted in 1976, over 50 years ago. And for the decades prior to that, the zoning code was used very explicitly to keep people of color OUT of some neighborhoods and IN others. Our zoning code cemented much of the racial and socioeconomic segregation that we see across the city today- concentrating wealth in some communities, and poverty in others.

We’ve also seen how concentrating commercial, automotive and service business zoning to major corridors on the Southside has limited the kind of attractive, walkable, human-scale growth that we’ve seen in other parts of our city, further driving inequity.

The rules that govern how we design and build our city matter tremendously, and we are long overdue to write new ones. 

Listen, I get that the zoning code won’t make anyone’s top ten list of what they love about Richmond, but it is one of the most important tools we have to shape our growing city into a place where everyone can thrive.

It’s why Richmond 300, the city’s master plan adopted by our City Council back in 2020 after award-winning community engagement, explicitly names rewriting our zoning code as the first and most important of the six big moves Richmond must make to ensure that the future development of our city reflects our values and our shared vision.

So today, I am excited to release Version Three of Code Refresh — the update to our outdated zoning code which:

• Helps us build more homes for more people, so that as we welcome new neighbors, we’re protecting opportunities for longtime residents to stay. We have heard people say they want “density that makes sense.” And we totally agree. This version does this by: 
  • Encouraging increased density in nodes and along major transit corridors throughout the city.
  • Improving the existing ADU regulations by increasing the allowed size of ADUs to 1200 sq feet, while also requiring ADUs to better fit the context of the lot,
  • And by evenly distributing zoning districts across the City, spreading new development equitably.
• It helps us build connected, vibrant neighborhoods and a diverse economy by:
  • Allowing neighborhood-appropriate, small-scale office and retail uses to better connect neighbors to goods and services.
  • And by bringing existing homes and businesses into zoning compliance, actually legalizing the unique character that already exists in so many of our neighborhoods
• It helps us build beautiful communities that preserve the character of our existing neighborhoods and the distinct aesthetic that makes so many places in Richmond special by:
  • Maintaining existing City Old and Historic Districts to ensure the longevity of Richmond’s most architecturally significant neighborhoods
  • Establishing contextual heights, setbacks, and step-backs so new development better complements the existing built environment,
  • And by creating a framework for new Design and Demolition overlay districts, giving neighborhoods the ability to set development standards that are important to them.
• finally, it helps us build a sustainable city by:
  • expanding amazing parks and green spaces into every corner, by creating a new designation of open space zoning
  • establishing citywide vegetation space requirements, meaning no new parcel in the City can be developed without some percentage of green space.
  • Setting minimum tree canopy standards, which protects trees that are growing here today, and requires the planting of more trees to improve the city’s overall tree canopy,

The process to get to today’s launch of Draft Three of Code Refresh has been an exercise in listening well. This draft is better, because people engaged with it.

Across all nine council districts, through pop-ups, town halls, office hours, work sessions, public meetings, and conversations with everyone from long-time homeowners to renters to neighbors brand new to Richmond, we heard so many diverse perspectives — and that diversity of perspective allowed us to land on a set of thoughtful recommendations found in version 3.

I want to highlight a few really important examples:

• First, we heard residents’ concerns about the number of units that should be permitted by right in residential districts. As a result, this proposal maintains the “1+1” concept: the right for homeowners to have one primary dwelling and one attached or detached accessory dwelling unit (ADU). We are recommending improvements to the effectiveness of our ADU regulation by increasing the allowable size of the ADU to 1200 sq feet and adding contextual requirements. This is a change, but an incremental change that should allay concerns that Code Refresh will dramatically change the character of neighborhoods, while it creates a better solution that provides more housing options
• Second, we heard lots of concerns from Southside residents about new development in a part of our city that has retained more suburban zoning since it was annexed, and it has not received the investment needed to help integrate it into the city. The proposed updates allow more investment on corridors (in accordance with our master plan), while still requiring SUP’s for more intense development in neighborhoods.
• Third, special use permits and community involvement in our land-use decision-making are NOT going away, but they are getting right-sized. We want to make sure we’re not adding time and cost to projects that clearly fit the context of a neighborhood, but have just not yet made their way into our 50-year-old code.
• Fourth, we’ve corrected inequitable overzoning in historically African American communities, like Westwood, protecting some of our most resilient neighborhoods.

Getting here hasn’t been easy, but rigorous debate and challenging compromises are the essence of our democracy, and the hallmark of how I want our administration to lead Richmond forward.

And so, what we are proposing today is a result of listening well, making changes, and finding compromises.   

I am so grateful for the incredible amount of work by our PDR team, the ongoing engagement of our council members, and the time, input, and perspective thousands of residents have brought to the Code Refresh process. This work has been made better by your involvement.

So here it is! Draft 3!

I invite you to explore the code firsthand on our website: rva.gov/coderefresh. There’s been a lot of misinformation out there and this is important enough that you go and see for yourself what’s in the proposal.

We also will be launching our education campaign— there’s a lot of technical stuff in the zoning code, and so our teams will be distributing information, breaking it down, and answering questions at town halls and community events all over the city over the next couple of months.

Richmond, I’m asking for your support as we present this to City Council for their further discussion, consideration, and I hope ultimately, adoption.

Because this is a roadmap for a future Richmond that reflects our values and our shared vision -- more homes for more people, connected neighborhoods, beautiful communities, and a sustainably city built for generations to come.

Thank you.

Thank you, President Newbille, and good afternoon, everybody.  

I’m really glad you all have gathered today for this.  

Since taking office, I have talked a lot about building a thriving Richmond. And part of the vision for a thriving Richmond is one where our children learn in great schools, where families can afford to stay in their neighborhoods, where businesses choose to invest, and where opportunity reaches every neighborhood.  

These are the pillars that guide my administration and that guide the decisions that we make every day.  

And so today, I want to share a plan that advances two of those pillars at the same time: helping our children thrive by investing in modern schools while also easing the tax burden where we reasonably can. 

Too many of our students spend their school days in buildings that are worn down and that have persistent problems due to decades of deferred maintenance. Ten of the school buildings in our City are more than a century old.  

A century ago, Calvin Coolidge was the President of the United States and Americans were still sending hundreds of millions of telegrams.  

Many of the buildings that we have today served generations of students, but we all know that they weren't built for the needs of students today.  

An assessment that was completed by Richmond public schools back in 2024 documented persistent problems with roofing with HVAC systems. There is general wear and tear in school after school.  

Just two months ago, a faulty HVAC system at the old George Wythe High School building led to uh flooding in that school. Ask any RPS teacher or student or parent and they will tell you that our schools are full of amazing people of talent, hard work, and dedication, but the facilities don't always measure up.  

Without a faster path forward, another generation of children will spend most of their educational years in facilities that simply don't meet the standard that we aspire to. 

But now, thanks to Governor Spanberger the Virginia General Assembly and the support of so many of you that are here today, we have a rare and unique opportunity to rapidly accelerate the work of building better schools for more children: a dedicated 1% local sales tax for school construction to create a steady funding source expected to generate nearly $47 million every year.  

And over time, that revenue can finance as much as $850 million of school construction by the year 2034.  

That helps us break the cycle of asking generation after generation of students to learn in aging and outdated facilities.  

Instead, it allows us to give Richmond's kids the best learning environment that they could possibly have.  

A consistent revenue stream also frees up general fund dollars to meet other major infrastructure needs like water, public housing redevelopment, investments in safer streets, upgrades to our courthouse, and so many other areas of deferred maintenance that we are trying to address simultaneously.  

I want to be extremely clear that if this is approved by voters, it will allow us to build schools sooner instead of asking another generation of students to wait. And I firmly believe that Richmond's voters do not want our students to wait. 

I want to thank the Richmond City Council and RPS School Board for the work that they've already done to get us here. City Council introduced a resolution expressing your support for the 1% local option sales tax; thank you all so much for doing that. And, the RPS School Board unanimously endorsed adding this referendum to the ballot this November. Thank you, school board.  

When council meets on Monday, July 27th, I'm strongly encouraging them to advance the resolution so that Richmond voters can decide on this coming November. 

While voters consider this long-term investment, we also know that we have work that we've got to do to support schools today. And to that end, I will be submitting a budget amendment to appropriate $4.78 million of the city's lodging tax rebate to help close the school budget gap that they announced earlier this month. This is a big move that we are making immediately for the benefit of our students. 

Now, of course, every new dollar should come with accountability. If we're asking Richmond residents to approve a new tax, even for something as important as schools, we want you to be confident that those dollars will be stewarded well and invested thoughtfully.  

That's why I'm also asking the school board, with the input and participation of our administration, of our city council, and of the public to develop a long-term facilities plan that leans on long range planning and robust public input. That long-term facilities plan has to prioritize the right projects, consider multiple funding sources, and maximize every dollar. 

Building a thriving Richmond means thinking beyond the challenge that is immediately in front of us. Everywhere I go, I hear the same things from Richmonders: that they're feeling the strain of higher costs. Families are watching every dollar. Restaurants are turning to social media to try to stay afloat. Homeowners are struggling with a competitive market and higher tax assessments.  

If we're asking Richmonders to approve a new tax, then we should also look for every opportunity to pair that with a reduced tax somewhere else.  

That's why if voters approve a referendum in November, I will introduce legislation to reduce our meals tax by 1 percentage point from 7.5% to 6.5%. Our local restaurant scene is a huge part of what makes Richmond so special, and we are so grateful for them. Since 2018, those restaurants and their customers have been helping build schools. I'm proposing this 1% reduction in the meals tax so that we don't add even more to the burden that our incredible restaurant community has shouldered. 

In addition, I will commit to presenting a budget in March that is built on lowering our real estate tax by one cent from its current $1.20 to $1.19. The City of Richmond has not lowered its real estate tax in Richmond since 2008.  

I know that it's only a small reduction, but it moves us in the right direction to show fiscal discipline, long-term planning, and returning money to the taxpayer. 

Now, I want to take a few moments to just dig into what this plan actually accomplishes. If it's approved, the local option sales tax generates approximately $47.5 million a year beginning in FY28. That means a total of $850 million would be available for school capital projects between 2028 and 2034.  

Now we compare that to under our current plan which is about $450 million over the next few years. That current plan includes four different phases. Phases One and Two that we have already borrowed on and that are primarily supported by our meals tax. Phases Three and Four that account for that $450 million and are entirely dependent on future General Fund revenues.  

This new plan opens the door to almost twice as much funding, $850 million, during the same time frame without having to rely on the General Fund. The new sales tax, if approved, would enhance -- not replace -- the City's existing commitment to schools, it lowers the real estate tax, which is paid solely by Richmonders, and leverages a dedicated funding source that is paid for in significant part by non-residents. 

This plan reflects the kind of city that we're trying to build.  

• It makes us possible for us to make massive investments in our children while preserving services to our community. 
• It asks more people to share in building Richmond's future. It builds schools sooner and it gives us a more sustainable way to pay for them, and  
• It lowers taxes where we can. 

It protects our ability to invest in other priority areas that residents care about. It pairs opportunity with accountability. That's how we build a thriving Richmond.  

If our residents endorse this plan in November, that is exactly what we will deliver together. 

Thank you so much. I want to next introduce the Chair of the RPS School Coard, Chair Fernandez, and RPS Superintendent, Jason Kamras.

Good morning, friends! 

This is a super exciting day in our city.
It is a joy to welcome people from far and wide. I know throughout the course of this weekend, we will have many visitors from the region and from beyond. We also have these crews from Norfolk, from Baltimore, and all the way from the Netherlands. Let's welcome our guests and thank them for coming here for these celebrations. 
 

The James River, in so many ways, is the lifeblood of our city today, but it has been for hundreds and hundreds of years. It has played an incredibly important role in the history of our Commonwealth and the history of our entire country. This whole year, as we acknowledge the 250th anniversary of our country, that means a lot of things here in Richmond. It is part celebration.
It is part wrestling with the complexity of our past. It is part inspiration for how we continue to form a more perfect union for the next 250 years. I have lived here in this great city of Richmond for 26 years, and a huge part of what has fueled my love for this place is the way that Richmond does not shy away from its past.
Our city is steeped in history. I think the greatness of our city, our beauty, our diversity, and the richness of Richmond are a direct result of the honest reckoning that we have done and been doing for decades here.  

SailFest is yet another example of how we grapple with the fullness of that history and ultimately become a stronger city because of it. As we stand here on the banks of the James River, we celebrate the fact that we would not be here had it not been for the arrival of ships like these so many years ago. We also recognize that the history of ships sailing up the James River here to Richmond is really complicated.  

When Captain Christopher Newport sailed here from Jamestown in 1607, he planted a cross on the hill, and with that began years of persecution of the land's original inhabitants, the Powhatan. Centuries before the Europeans arrived on these shores, remember that dugout canoes carried families and food and tools and traded goods between villages and tribes. We must remember that when these ships first sailed up the James more than 400 years ago, this land was not a wilderness waiting to be settled. It was already a vibrant network of relationships, of economic activity, and of community. Just like today, our river connected people. The Powhatan welcomed these new European settlers in their most vulnerable moment and taught them how to survive in this new environment. Ultimately, as greed gave way to war and violence, within a generation, most of the tribes between the York and the James River were decimated. Too many of the land’s first inhabitants in the place that we now call Richmond were lost to history.  

In the years to follow, the James River would carry thousands of enslaved Africans into the city.
Right across the river here, thousands of kidnapped men, women, and children arrived at Ancarrow’s landing, and walked along the riverbank, eventually making their way to Shockoe Bottom, where they were confined, tortured, and sold into a life of slavery. In the 19th century, Richmond became one of the largest slave hubs in the United States. So many enslaved Africans came through Richmond, that even today, it is believed that one in four Black Americans can trace their roots back to our city.  

Throughout all of this time, the river and the ships that traveled along it were also a source of commercial development for Richmond, and of freedom. George Washington oversaw the building of the Kanawha Canal along the James River, which was the first operating canal system in the US. That canal connected Richmond and other Eastern cities to the Western United States, and it expanded travel and commerce from our city and for the nation as a whole. In the years to follow, Black and Irish laborers would endure dangerous conditions to expand that canal and grow our city's economy by helping transport flour and tobacco and coal and people, both free and enslaved, up the treacherous falls of the James and ultimately around the world. 
 

If you look at our City's flag, you will see a faceless boatman, a boatman that represents the unsung heroes -- the boatman of the James -- that transported goods along the river, and were such an important part of our city's early economy. It's believed that, at one point, up to 98% of these boatmen were men of color, and that the river was actually a source of freedom for these men and their families, both figuratively and literally. Not only did the river provide an avenue for enslaved boatmen to travel without the harsh supervision of their masters, but they were also known to help transport slaves to freedom by picking up freedom seekers along their journey, and taking them to ships here in Richmond that would ultimately carry them north.
I think these Black boatmen were the epitome of our country's founding ideals of liberty and justice for all. With great bravery and wisdom, they turned the same river that brought their ancestors into a life of slavery into a pathway to freedom. I'm so proud that they are represented at the center of Richmond's flag, which is a representation of their legacy, but also of our aspiration to live up to it as a city. 
 

Now, while the tall ships that we see today aren't the same vessels that ushered in the difficult parts of Richmond's conflicted past, they do allow us to reflect on that past, and to celebrate the progress that we've made, but also to acknowledge the work that we have yet to do. We have been working to live up to that promise of freedom and equality for 250 years, but we are still working on it. The work to create a truly democratic nation rooted in equality remains unfinished. 

I welcome you all again to SailFest, because this is an incredible once in a generation opportunity to tour these beautiful ships, to learn from live performances and reenactments and exhibits that will allow us to engage with and reflect on our complex history over the last 250 years. This event has come together with the work of many, many hands. I just want to say thank you to Sail Virginia, to the crews of these fantastic ships, the Oosterschelde, the Pride of Baltimore, and the Virginia.  

I want to say a special thank you to Jamie and your team at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. 
We are so grateful for the work that you all do for our city and for the entire state, telling the fullness of Virginia's story. I want to offer a massive thank you to the United States Army. It took so much coordination and effort to get these floating docks out here so that these ships could dock. I want to thank the Army certainly for their involvement in this event, but more importantly to your sacrifice and service to our great nation. Lastly, I want to thank my colleagues here in the city of Richmond, who, along with Sail Virginia and the History Museum, put in so many hours of planning and physical labor, and set up the infrastructure that's needed to bring the tall ships here and to make this event a success.  

I cannot wait for thousands and thousands of Richmonders to get to experience this over the next few days, and then to see how that work will seed the future of Richmond, to make us a stronger and more resilient and more beautiful city over the next 250 years. Thanks so much, everybody. 

New initiatives include further restrictions on Flock data sharing  

Richmond, VA — Today Mayor Danny Avula announced a set of actions the City of Richmond is taking to safeguard community trust and draw a clear line between local policing and federal immigration enforcement. These actions, recommended by the Mayor’s Inclusive Communities Preparedness Work Group, formalize and expand upon the administration’s longstanding position that the Richmond Police Department does not enforce federal immigration law and does not coordinate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

“The fear our neighbors are feeling right now is real — the fear of going to work, taking children to school, or even running everyday errands like going to the grocery store,” said  Mayor Danny Avula . “Our city government exists to serve all Richmonders, and we will continue to work to build the trust that is essential to keeping our communities safe.”

The actions include: 

Increased Flock data sharing restrictions. In addition to cutting off all federal agency access to its license-plate reader data, the Richmond Police Department will now prohibit sharing Flock Safety data with any jurisdiction in Virginia that has entered into a 287(g) agreement with ICE. This helps ensure that technology deployed to solve local crimes in Richmond is not used as a tool for immigration enforcement in other localities across the Commonwealth. 

RPD uniform updates. The Richmond Police Department will update officer uniforms to read “RICHMOND POLICE”, making them clearly and visually distinguishable from federal law enforcement agents. Reports from across the region have described ICE agents conducting enforcement operations in dark tactical gear that closely resembles local police, creating confusion and fear in communities. The uniform changes will help residents immediately identify RPD officers from their local police department.   

Prohibiting ICE from staging operations on City property. The City will prohibit federal agencies from using City-owned property — including buildings, parking lots, and public facilities — to stage immigration operations, process detainees, or conduct surveillance related to immigration enforcement. 

Raising concerns directly to ICE. The administration will establish a regular cadence of meetings with ICE’s Richmond field office to raise concerns from residents, communicate the City’s policies and expectations, and ensure open channels of communication. This proactive approach allows the City to advocate directly for the safety and dignity of Richmond residents while still upholding its commitments to resident safety. 

“The Richmond Police Department’s mission is community policing — building trust, strengthening relationships, solving crimes, and keeping neighborhoods safe,” said Chief Rick Edwards . “We understand that some residents may feel uncertainty or concern when they see law enforcement activity in their neighborhoods. That is why it is important that the public can clearly identify our officers and know who we are when we respond to serve the community. We want every resident to feel safe calling us for help, reporting crime, or speaking with an officer. Our focus is, and always will be, protecting the people of Richmond and working in partnership with the communities we serve.” 

Richmond has not entered into a 287(g) agreement with ICE and does not participate in the enforcement of federal immigration law. In January 2026, Mayor Avula established the Inclusive Communities Preparedness Work Group to identify additional steps the City can take to respond to emergent threats and challenges facing immigrant communities. 

The Richmond Police Department’s Hispanic Liaison can be reached at 804-646-5158 or [email protected] . 

La Ciudad de Richmond actúa para conservar la confianza de la comunidad y aclarar el papel de su Departamento de Policía

Las nuevas iniciativas incluyen mayores restricciones en el intercambio de datos de las cámaras Flock

Richmond, Virginia — El alcalde Danny Avula anunció hoy un conjunto de medidas que la Ciudad de Richmond está tomando para conservar la confianza de la comunidad y trazar una división clara entre las autoridades policiales locales y las agencias federales de inmigración. Estas acciones, que fueron recomendadas por el Equipo de Trabajo de Preparación de Comunidades Incluyentes del alcalde, formalizan y expanden la posición establecida por la administración desde hace tiempo de que el Departamento de Policía de Richmond (RPD) no lleva a cabo ningún tipo de acción relacionada con las leyes federales de inmigración, ni tampoco se coordina con la Autoridad de Aduanas e Inmigración (ICE) de los Estados Unidos.

Dijo el alcalde Danny Avula : “El miedo que ahora tienen nuestros vecinos es real: el miedo de salir a trabajar, de llevar a sus hijos a la escuela, inclusive de realizar actividades diarias y rutinarias como ir a la tienda a hacer mercado”, y añadió: “El gobierno de nuestra ciudad está aquí para servirle a todos los richmondeses y seguiremos trabajando para establecer la confianza que es indispensable para mantener seguras a nuestras comunidades”.

Las medidas incluyen:

Un aumento en las restricciones de intercambio de datos de Flock. Además de cortar por completo el acceso de las agencias federales a sus datos de los lectores de placas, el Departamento de Policía de Richmond ahora prohibirá compartir los datos del sistema de seguridad Flock con cualquier jurisdicción de Virginia que haya entrado a un acuerdo 287(g) con ICE. Esto ayuda a asegurar que la tecnología que desplegamos para resolver delitos locales en Richmond no sea utilizada como una herramienta de vigilancia de inmigración en otras localidades de la Mancomunidad.

Actualizar los uniformes del RPD. El Departamento de Policía de Richmond cambiará sus uniformes de manera que ahora tengan escrito “RICHMOND POLICE” (“Policía de Richmond”), para hacerlos visualmente diferentes de los utilizados por los agentes de las autoridades federales de inmigración. Existen informes de toda la región que han descrito el vestuario de los agentes de ICE que realizan redadas como “equipo táctico de colores oscuros”, muy parecidos a los de la policía local, lo que crea confusión y temor en las comunidades. Estos cambios en el uniforme ayudarán a la población a identificar inmediatamente a los agentes de policía de Richmond.

Prohibir que ICE se reúna para preparar sus operaciones en instalaciones municipales. La Ciudad prohibirá que las agencias federales utilicen propiedades municipales, incluyendo edificios, estacionamientos e instalaciones públicas, para montar sus operaciones de inmigración, procesar a los detenidos o ejercer actividades de vigilancia relacionadas con las redadas de inmigración.

Presentar sus inquietudes directamente a ICE. La administración establecerá una secuencia regular de reuniones con la oficina de campo de ICE en Richmond, con el fin de plantear las inquietudes de los richmondeses, comunicar las políticas y expectativas de la Ciudad y asegurar que existan canales abiertos de comunicación. Este enfoque proactivo permite que la administración municipal abogue directamente por la seguridad y dignidad de los habitantes de Richmond, al tiempo que mantiene su compromiso con la seguridad de la población.

Dijo el jefe de policía Rick Edwards : “La misión del Departamento de Policía de Richmond es proteger a la comunidad, estableciendo confianza, fortaleciendo relaciones, resolviendo delitos y manteniendo las comunidades seguras”, y agregó: “Comprendemos que algunos richmondeses sientan incertidumbre o preocupación cuando ven actividades policiales en sus vecindarios; es por eso que es importante que el público pueda identificar claramente a nuestros agentes y oficiales y sepa quiénes somos cuando respondemos y le servimos a la comunidad. Queremos que cada persona se sienta segura cuando nos llame pidiendo ayuda, informando sobre un delito o al hablar con un agente. Nuestra meta es, y siempre será, proteger a la población de Richmond y trabajar en colaboración con las comunidades a las que servimos”.

Richmond firmado ningún acuerdo 287(g) con ICE, ni participa en la ejecución de las leyes federales de inmigración. En enero de 2026, el alcalde Avula creó el Equipo de Trabajo de Preparación de Comunidades Incluyentes para identificar otras medidas que puede tomar la Ciudad para responder a las nuevas amenazas y desafíos a los que se enfrentan las comunidades inmigrantes.

También pueden comunicarse con la oficina de Enlace Hispano del Departamento de Policía de Richmond llamando al 804-646-5158 o escribiendo al correo [email protected] .