Council split over police chief search after consultant recommends acting chief Sarah Lambrania

The council spent a prolonged portion of the meeting debating the police chief recruitment. Staff said the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police (VACP) had reviewed a pool of applicants and recommended acting Chief Sarah Lambrania as the best candidate. Some council members said the selection process was paused earlier in the year while the council considered radical changes to the police department; others said that pause explained why several candidates withdrew and that reopening the search could produce additional options.

Supporters of Lambrania pointed to the VACP’s unanimous recommendation from its review of 27 applicants and argued that the process had been thorough. Opponents said the pool effectively narrowed over the spring and summer, that many candidates withdrew because of the council environment, and that the council should either reopen recruitment or at least provide more time for deliberation. A motion to reopen the candidate pool and related motions were debated and put to roll-call votes; the transcript records close, sometimes fragmented roll calls and objections about discussing closed-session legal advice in public.

At one point a council member moved to endorse Sarah Lambrania for hire; the motion was seconded and ultimately faced conflicting votes and procedural challenges, and the council did not finalize a permanent appointment that night. The debate included repeated references to prior closed sessions, a consultant memo, and legal advice the council had requested and received in writing.