RICHMOND, Va. — In the latest episode of “Untold – A WTVR Podcast,” host Catie Beck talks with Rick Edwards, the chief of the Richmond Police Department.
Edwards, an Ohio native, came to Virginia in the early 1990s to attend school and play basketball, first at Fork Union Military Academy, and then at the University of Richmond.
These days, he tells Beck he’s playing "moneyball," trying to figure out the best way to protect and serve Richmond’s citizens with a police force that is not at full staff.
"I can tell you that when my predecessor took over in July of 2020, the Richmond police department had 740 sworn officers. When I took over in October of 2022, a little over two years later, we had 603 and we're hovering around that right now," said Edwards. "And you can't tell the story of that without talking about 2020, and what happened in our city. Richmond was one of maybe 10 to 15 cities around the country that had 100, 120 days of having to stand up a command post, civil unrest. Two of our officers were shot, a bus was blown up, politicians were targeted, officers were doxxed, and there was a welcoming home in some of the surrounding counties. Now, when I took over, we made a real appeal to many of those officers to come home, and many did, but we're still treading water."
Edwards and Beck also discussed crime concerns in Shockoe Bottom, and the idea that turning some Richmond neighborhoods into entertainment districts might help limit gun violence, because they would effectively become "gun-free zones."
"It's something that other cities have done. You know, I don't know the answer to that. I think it would be complicated. It would require additional legislation, and there would certainly be pushback," said Edwards. "But, you know, Virginia is an open carry state. I'm a gun owner. I believe in the Second Amendment. It's a right, but it's also a huge responsibility. And there are certain ways you can, you can mitigate the risk."
"I think places like Times Square and other cities have done that, designated those zones. And in fact, we've done it for parks, so you can't open carry a firearm in a public park. And certain events, we can curtail that," he added.
The conversation also included a discussion on President Trump’s decision to send the National Guard to some U.S. cities to help police the streets.
"I don't know what the National Guard can do, other than be a deterrent," said Edwards. "And you know, that might be something that's outside of our control, but if it does happen, we'll try to make the best of it… I don't know what the National Guard actually has the authority to do. So I think if it's a matter of providing security for facilities, that could be valuable. They certainly did that for us in 2020, and there are certain benefits to crowd control if there's civil unrest. But as far as law enforcement, the function of law enforcement, I’d rather see more Virginia State Troopers than National Guardsmen."
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