Culpeper Star-Exponent: Fentanyl, violence, safe roads, officer wellness top of mind at Spanberger town hall

CULPEPER STAR-EXPONENT

Culpeper Police Chris Settle participated this week in a telephone town hall discussion with Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, and Prince William County Police Chief Peter Newsham.

More than 4,900 Virginians got on the call Tuesday to discuss various topics such as, cracking down on illicit fentanyl, preventing gun violence, recruiting and retaining highly trained first responders, combatting domestic and intimate partner violence, keeping roads safe, and more, according to a release from the congresswoman’s office.

The conversation was intended to address community safety concerns and foster dialogue between 7th District residents and local law enforcement, the office stated. Spanberger gave updates on legislative efforts to keep Virginia communities safe, tackle the overdose crisis and provide law enforcement with the tools they need to do their jobs effectively.

“Thank you for inviting Chief Settle to participate in last night’s virtual town hall. He appreciated the opportunity to share information about and discuss a range of topics including the education, prevention, and enforcement of fentanyl in our communities, traffic safety and enforcement in our neighborhoods, domestic violence and victim services, and officer wellness.

“We’re always open to answering questions, and firmly believe that an informed community is a better served community,” according to a CPD post.

Settle said in a statement he would always take any opportunity he can to interact with the public.

“I want to also thank the men and women of my department — who are out there working tonight, out there working tomorrow, 24/7, 365 days of the year — for the tremendous job that they do. To any residents of the Town of Culpeper, please if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, contact the Culpeper Police Department,” the police chief said.

Tuesday night’s town hall was a great opportunity to learn more about the public safety issues that are top of mind for Virginians across our Commonwealth, said Spanberger.

“Thank you to everyone who tuned in to discuss how their public officials are working to keep their neighborhoods, families, and children safe — and to learn more about how we can continue working together to make our community stronger. I’m grateful that Chief Settle and Chief Newsham joined the conversation to share their expertise and insight and I encourage anyone who was unable to ask a question to please reach out to my office,” she said.

Newsham said he was fortunate to be able to walk amongst heroes in the men and women of the Prince William County Police Department, the men and women of the Culpeper Police Department, and the men and women of the law enforcement agencies that serve the Commonwealth.

Tuesday’s event was Spanberger’s 59th open, public town hall event since she took office in 2019.