In 2023, 22 people tragically lost their lives to opioid overdose in Arlington County. One of these individuals was Tori Thompson, a cherished member of the Black community in Arlington. His death was unanticipated and heart-rending, but the grief for Tori's family was further magnified by the failure in the system that occurred afterward.

The Arlington County Police Department did not notify Tori's family of his death. Instead, they declared him unclaimed and made the decision to cremate him, even though this act directly went against Tori's family's religious beliefs. "He had a birth certificate, a loving note from his mother, and his ID in his possession. The police's failure to notify us is unthinkable, and the disrespect shown to his remains is indefensible," says Angela Thompson, Tori's distressed mother.

This incident is not an isolated one but part of a series of mishandlings and oversights that highlight the critical need for reform in how the Arlington County Police Department addresses unclaimed deaths.

• The first step is increasing the supervision and training of ACPD in dealing with such cases. We ask that a designated liaison be responsible for overseeing the investigation and ensuring family members are appropriately and timely informed of the passing of their loved ones.
• We must update the ACPD policy to include the entry of any unclaimed death information into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System- “NamUS” database for a reasonable time prior to a motion to cremate the unclaimed person.
• We ask to include mandatory trauma-informed and implicit-bias training, proactive communication policies,  and stronger, more transparent procedures around notifying family and next of kin after a death.  A liason should proactively share information and records with families.  Families should not have to navigate FOIA requests and redacted records to learn what happened to their family members. 
• Want to ask that the changed policy use Tori's case for training future detectives and name it after Tori.
• While ACPD has publicly stated it changed procedure to require a supervisor to review all cases, here there was no accountability to the supervisors that signed off on the detective's reports.
• And, lastly we ask that the ACPD adhere to the recommendations of the Arlington's Community Oversight Board for stronger discipline for the Detective involved. 

This petition calls for justice for Tori Thompson, for his family, and for the many families who might face the same devastating scenario in the future. Please sign this petition to urge the ACPD to make these necessary changes, ensuring respect and dignity for every citizen in their hour of death and grief.