B4 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.THURSDAY, MAY 26 , 2022
many are harvested each year.
Even with lower numbers, Mary-
land DNR officials said the num-
ber of spawning-age females is “at
a level capable of producing a
strong year class.”
Officials at the Virginia Marine
Resources Commission, which
helped with the survey, said in a
statement that adult female crabs
are “the key to conservation.” Each
female can spawn an average of 3
million eggs per brood and in one
year can average up to three
broods. Female crabs o bserved in
the survey are predicted to spawn
in late May to mid s ummer, so that
contributes to next year’s juvenile
CRABS FROM B1 population, officials said.
While the water quality and
vegetation in the bay has im-
proved, Virginia marine experts
said they’re concerned that “blue
crabs are still vulnerable to low
oxygen levels from nutrient runoff
and a lack of sea grasses, which
can leave vulnerable juveniles and
soft crabs without [habitat] for
refuge.”
There are likely multiple rea-
sons for the declines in the blue
crab population, experts said,
i ncluding the changing condition
of the ocean and rising water tem-
peratures, plus the impacts of
storms and currents on crab habi-
tats and an uptick in crab preda-
tors such as blue catfish and red
drum.
“Climate change could abso-
lutely be a part of it,” Luisi said,
noting that for juvenile crabs, cli-
mate change could impact the
timing of the availability of their
food resources, thereby impacting
how they grow.
“The air, the tides, the winds,
the water being warmer or how
they’ll find protection in the bay
all impact the crab population,”
Luisi said.
Even though experts said they
believe they have kept “safe levels”
in managing the number of blue
crabs harvested each year, “adult
blue crabs abundance has steadily
declined.”
While many wildlife watchersworry whether the bay’s blue
crabs are being overfished, Luisi
said they don’t believe that’s the
case. In 2021, the maximum per-
centage of females that could be
harvested annually without over-
fishing was 26 percent; that com-
pares with a maximum percent-
age of 37 percent a decade earlier,
according to the survey and sum-
maries.
About 41.6 million pounds of
blue crabs were harvested from
the bay and its tributaries,
a ccording to a 2021 report from
the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assess-
ment Committee.
The dredge survey drew con-
cern from environmental groups
worried about the bay and itswildlife.
“Crabs have a pretty short life
span of two to three years, so if you
have two to three years of low
production, it’s setting up a trend
that could continue into the fu-
ture unless something changes,”
said Allison Colden, the Maryland
senior fisheries scientist for the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
“Environmental factors are so
unpredictable,” she said. “But we
hope they will take a deep-dive
into looking at this. ... Otherwise
we are setting ourselves up for a
declining trend if it continues.”
The annual dredge survey is
done in the winter when blue
crabs are less active. Biologists use
equipment to dredge them at1,500 sites along the bay’s lower,
middle and upper portions of
Maryland and Virginia. The crabs’
measurements, weight and sex
are recorded, then they’re re-
leased.
Experts said they’re developing
a plan to try to figure out how to
improve the crab population and
keep up the “health and sustain-
ability” of the species, given the
declines they found.
“They’re a very resilient popu-
lation, and they’ve been around
longer than we have,” Luisi said.
“They’ll find a way, and we will
deal with the consequences to
make sure we allow for enough of
them to stay in the bay to increase
their production.”Declining population of blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay will a≠ect harvest limit
BY LAURA VOZZELLArichmond — Two key state sena-
tors on Wednesday separately
raised doubts about legislation
meant to lure the Washington
Commanders football team to Vir-
ginia with a new, taxpayer-sup-
ported stadium, signaling that the
effort could be in trouble when the
General Assembly returns to the
Capitol next week.
Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax
City), for years one of the team’s
most ardent boosters in Rich-
mond, announced that he will not
vote for a stadium bill — in part
because he has lost “confidence in
the Washington Commanders as a
viable NFL franchise.”
His concerns were rooted chief-
ly in the team’s on-field woes, di-
minished fan base and abandon-
ment of its original name, which
the team dumped amid criticism
that it was a racial slur but the
senator supported as a historic
and storied National Football
League brand.
Separately, Stephen D. New-
man (R-Bedford), part of a team of
legislators working to hash out
differences in rival House and
Senate stadium bills and rein in
the cost to taxpayers to below
$300 million, said controversies
surrounding Commanders owner
Daniel Snyder threaten to sink the
legislation. Snyder has been ac-
cused of sexual misconduct and
financial improprieties — allega-
tions he denies.
“Most people would like to have
the team here. The question that
still remains is whether or not
there is any political will to move
forward this year given some of
the difficulties surrounding the
owner,” Newman said in an inter-
view with The Washington Post.
“I’ve heard from a number of fel-
low senators who are concerned.”
Commanders team president
Jason Wright said in a statement:
“We are incredibly eager to contin-
ue our work with legislative lead-
ers in Virginia and other jurisdic-
tions. The bill being crafted in the
Virginia General Assembly would
pave the way for us to engage in
meaningful discussions with state
and local leaders in the Common-
wealth on their economic develop-
ment goals and how our new ven-
ue can dramatically support those
objectives.”
Some members of the General
Assembly remained upbeat aboutthe plan’s prospects, although Del.
Barry D. Knight (R-Virginia
Beach), who sponsored the bill in
the House, declined to comment,
and Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D-
Fairfax), who carried it in the Sen-
ate, did not respond to a request
for comment.
“I feel very confident that we
still have a majority in both cham-
bers to pass the legislation,” said
Del. Luke E. Torian (D-Prince Wil-
liam), who said the project would
bring “an economic infusion into
the commonwealth of Virginia for
many years to come.”
“This is not about what we can
do for the Commanders — this is
about Virginians finally getting a
team,” said Del. Lamont Bagby
(D-Henrico).
The Commanders are contrac-
tually obligated to play at FedEx
Field in Landover, Md., until 2027,
after which they could stay or seek
another home. The team has been
shopping for a new home for years
in Virginia, Maryland and D.C.
Snyder wants to build not just a
new stadium but a vast commer-
cial and residential complex that
supporters call a “mini-city,” in-
cluding a convention center, con-
cert venue, hotels, restaurants andhousing. A pair of bills introduced
in Virginia’s General Assembly
this year would create a stadium
authority to oversee construction
and financing, allowing the team
to collect a share of state tax rev-
enue generated by the stadium
and the more expansive commer-
cial development to finance con-
struction of the stadium.
The effort initially appeared to
have broad support, with Gov.
Glenn Youngkin (R) giving it a
shout-out in his first speech to the
General Assembly. The Republi-
can-controlled House of Delegates
and the Democratic-led Senate
passed separate bills in February
by wide, bipartisan margins.
But there were concerns about
the amount of tax revenue the
state would forfeit, initially esti-
mated at $1 billion. In March, ne-
gotiators trying to iron out differ-
ences in the bills said they would
cap the cost at $350 million. They
failed to reach a compromise be-
fore the legislature wrapped up its
regular session that month, so the
legislation rolled into a special
session called primarily to com-
plete work on the state budget.
Little information on the sta-
dium bills emerged from negotia-tions since then, but on Wednes-
day, Newman said they plan to
lower the cap again, to under $300
million. He said he expects the
compromise bill to let the team
have a share of revenue generated
only from the stadium, not from
the broader commercial develop-
ment. Without that provision,
Newman predicted the bills will
die in conference committee,
meaning they will not come before
the House and Senate for a vote
next week.
The Commanders and Snyder
have been embroiled in scandal
for much of the past two years with
the allegations of sexual miscon-
duct and financial impropriety,
which have prompted investiga-
tions by the NFL and Congress, as
well as possibly the Federal Trade
Commission. Last month, attor-
neys general Karl A. Racine of D.C.
and Jason S. Miyares of Virginia
launched their own probes of the
team and Snyder.
Petersen and Newman voiced
concerns about the bill following
reports this week that the Com-
manders had acquired the right to
purchase 200 acres in Prince Wil-
liam County for the project.
Leaked a little more than a weekbefore the General Assembly has
its last chance to vote on the sta-
dium bill June 1, the disclosure
could have been intended to pull
the measure over the finish line.
But it had the opposite effect for
Petersen, who in his statement
objected to the Woodbridge site,
near the Potomac Mills shopping
center and 23 miles from the U.S.
Capitol building, as “too far re-
moved from an urban setting, un-
like Nats Park at the Navy Yard,
which will make it solely depend-
ent on vehicle traffic for access.”
Petersen said his more serious
concern was the team’s dimin-
ished stature on the field and in
the community — this from a die-
hard fan.
“That team defined our com-
munity for multiple generations,”
he wrote. “ The Washington Com-
manders are not that team. They
have no history, no tradition and
no fan base. I do not consider them
an appropriate economic partner
for the Commonwealth of Vir-
ginia, because I don’t think they
have the community support to
survive.”Nicki Jhabvala contributed to this
report.VIRGINIA
Key senators raise doubts about bill to lure C ommanders with new stadium
BY JUSTIN JOUVENAL
AND MARTIN WEILA 9-year-old girl was hit by a
stray bullet and suffered critical
injuries while playing in a Wood-
bridge neighborhood Tuesday,
Prince William County police
said. The harrowing scene was
captured by a security camera.
Officers were called around
6:40 p.m. to the 15300 block of
Gatehouse Terrace, where they
found the girl suffering from a
gunshot wound, police said.
Officers administered aid until
rescue crews arrived, and the girl
was flown to a hospital with life-
threatening injuries, police said.
Prince William County Police
Chief Peter Newsham said
Wednesday afternoon that she re-
mained in an intensive care unit.
Newsham said an investigation
revealed that a group of teenage
males, possibly juveniles, were
walking in the area when one
opened fire at a car. Multiple shotswere fired and one of the bullets
struck the girl. The vehicle was
also hit.
Newsham said investigators
were able to locate the driver of
the car, but he revealed little about
a motive for the shooting. The
chief said one theory is that there
was an existing dispute between
the driver and the group of males.
Newsham said police have
some leads on identifying the
group of males but asked the pub-
lic for additional tips. Newshamsaid he was dismayed by the
shooting.
“I think it goes to the belief by
some in the community that it’s
okay to discharge a firearm in our
community,” the chief said. “We
need to change that.”
The shooting was captured by a
neighbor’s surveillance camera
and obtained by Fox 5 news.
The video shows five children
playing on a sidewalk in a town-
house development, as four indi-
viduals in black walk up a parallelsidewalk on the far side of a park-
ing lot. The children appear to
notice the individuals, and one of
the children mentions something
about “gangsters.”
Soon after, a silver car enters
the parking lot, drives by the indi-
viduals in black and then stops.
The vehicle reverses and turns
around, heading back toward the
individuals in black. Suddenly,
three gunshots can be heard and
the car drives off.
The children scatter and a girlwho is part of the group falls
backward on the sidewalk and
begins screaming. She says at one
point, “I can’t feel my legs!” A
woman runs to her and picks her
up before the video ends.
Master Police Officer Renee
Carr, a spokeswoman for the
Prince William County Police De-
partment, said investigators are
looking into whether one or more
of the individuals in black in-
volved in the shooting were
masked.VIRGINIA
9-year-old girl hit by stray bullet while playing in Woodbridge, police say
which led to the fatal shooting of
Breonna Taylor in Louisville in
2020.
Police Chief Robert J. Contee III
told the D.C. Council in February
that all officers are trained in de-
escalation, “to ensure force is only
used when necessary,” and that the
police are teaching officers about
their duty to intervene when they
see other officers commit wrong-
doing. The Justice Department
last week updated its use-of-force
policy to require officers to inter-
vene, as well.
“It doesn’t really impact my
agency,” said Prince William
County Police Chief Peter New-
sham, “because we’re pretty much
up to date on a lot of the things
[the Biden order] is requiring.”
Newsham said the department al-
ready has body-worn cameras and
has banned chokeholds and no-
knock warrants. But the former
D.C. chief said he felt “a lot of
agencies will benefit” by having
the federal requirements in place,
as standards to achieve if they
haven’t already.
Terry Cunningham, deputy ex-
ecutive director of the IACP, and
Jim Pasco, executive director of
the FOP, worked with Biden ad-
ministration officials such as Su-
san Rice and Vanita Gupta to de-
vise the executive order.
“The direct impact on nonfed-
eral agencies will be minimized,”
Cunningham said Wednesday.
“However, what’s important about
the executive order is that it will
provide law enforcement agencies
with guidance on evidence-based
leading practices, promote adop-
tion of policies that emphasize the
preservation of life and promote
officer wellness and safety, and
direct federal agencies to provide
POLICE FROM B1 resources and training to state
and local agencies.”
The first prong of Biden’s order
promotes accountability for po-
lice, in part by creating a new
national database of police mis-
conduct. But such a database, the
National Decertification Index,
has been maintained for years by
the International Association of
Directors of Law Enforcement
Standards and Training. Federal
agencies do not currently submit
their data about fired or disci-
plined officers to the database.
Michael N. Becar, executive direc-
tor of the database, said Wednes-
day that he had not heard yet if the
Biden administration intended to
add federal agents’ disciplinary
records to the existing local-police
database or create an entirely new
one.
Angelo Consoli, president of the
Prince George’s County police
union, said that many of the exec-
utive order’s points were mandat-
ed after Maryland lawmakers
passed sweeping police reform
legislation last year, which includ-
ed Anton’s Law — a bill that made
police disciplinary records avail-
able to the public.“You’re not going to find too
many officers opposed to any
statewide or nationwide database
of cops that got in trouble or disci-
plined or fired, whether it’s for
excessive force or dishonesty,”
Consoli said. “The only thing
we’ve ever asked for is due proc-
ess,” he said, which the executive
order promises.
The FBI has attempted to create
a national database on use-of-
force incidents but has been ham-
pered by lack of participation by
local departments. The executive
order requires all federal agencies
to submit such data on a monthly
basis, and instructs the attorney
general to help local departments
compile and submit their num-
bers. Cunningham said such data
should also include uses of forceagainst the police, not just by the
police.
Currently only private organi-
zations such as The Washington
Post comprehensively track po-
lice-involved killings.
The Biden order requires new
standards that limit the use of
force and require de-escalation for
all federal agencies. Lee Holland,
president of Montgomery Coun-
ty’s police union, FOP Lodge 35,
said the county “has been well
ahead of most agencies when it
comes to strict use-of-force pol-
icies and other measures I have
seen in the executive order.”
Newsham said that many large
police agencies shifted to de-esca-
lation tactics after 2016, when the
Police Executive Research Forum
called on departments to retrainofficers on creating time and dis-
tance from subjects during critical
incidents rather than using a tra-
ditional pyramid of increasing
force.
Contee said D.C. officers are
now being trained in the duty to
intervene when they see other offi-
cers commit wrongdoing.
But Patrice Sulton, a member of
the city’s Police Reform Commis-
sion, said that reform efforts have
stalled and that the D.C. Council
has not held the police to account
on issues such as diverting money
into alternative justice programs
and shifting responsibilities away
from law enforcement.
“There is not enough conversa-
tion,” Sulton said Wednesday,
“about what police are doing and
how we can effectively preventviolence and reduce harm.” She
said the District doesn’t need
guidance from the White House
when it already has a blueprint
from the reform commission.
Pasco, the longtime executive
director of the FOP, said that he
anticipated resistance from rural
and smaller police departments,
and that “the sales job’s on us” to
convince them to adopt measures
such as tracking use-of-force data
and seeking formal accreditation,
two tenets of the Biden order.
“We would hope that they
would agree,” Pasco said, “that the
executive order lays out a really
thoughtful framework, which will
hopefully serve to improve the re-
lationships between officers and
the communities they serve. And
at the same time, create opportu-
nities for enhancing the efficiency
of departments and individual of-
fices through education and
grants.”
Cunningham said he hoped
that perhaps 10 of the 21 items in
the Biden order would become a
“blueprint for legislation.” He said
that there has been “a swath of bad
legislation across the country” on
police issues and that perhaps fed-
eral legislation would create na-
tional standards on accreditation,
advanced biometric technologies,
and plans for front-end diversion
and alternatives to incarceration.
Montgomery County Police
Chief Marcus Jones said he en-
dorsed Biden’s order “along with
my fellow chiefs from the Major
Cities Chiefs Association. The ex-
ecutive order is an excellent first
step towards accountable policing
and strengthening trust and pub-
lic safety in our community across
the nation.”Dan Morse and Katie Mettler
contributed to this report.Many of Biden’s reforms are already underway, local police departments say
2021 PHOTO BY SARAH L. VOISIN/THE WASHINGTON POST
P atrice A. Sulton, founder of the DC Justice Lab and a member of the D.C. Police Reform Commission,
said the city doesn’t need White House guidance w hen it already has a blueprint from the c ommission.“It doesn’t really impactmy agency becausewe’re pretty much up todate on a lot of thethings [the Biden order]is requiring.”
P eter Newsham,
Prince William County police chief