All right. Good evening everyone. Welcome. I'm Jeff Frasier. I'm the chair of the uh Charlottesville PCO Police and Oversight Board. I want to call this meeting to order. This is our monthly meeting. We meet uh
every um second Thursday of the month. Next month, by the way, we will be meeting downstairs in the parks and recck conference room. This room is otherwise going to be occupied. Um Mr. Mr. Walker, would you please call the role u and then we'll proceed.
>> Sure. Uh just say here Mr. Dillard >> here. >> Mr. Lefave >> here. >> Mrs. Reeves >> here. >> Mr. Fry >> here. >> Mr. Frasier >> here. >> Dr. Frasier. Dr. Dobson >> here. >> U Miss uh I'm sure I got it right. Lenor Kelly
>> here. >> And then Mr. Vaughn here. >> Thank you. Um, so I just want to lay out uh our ground rules just as a reminder. Um, they are on are they on the back of the agenda? You >> Yes, they are. I got them
over. But just briefly, we we will always adhere to respective conduct. We'll treat other attendees with courtesy, listen actively. We will avoid interruptions. We'll refrain from personal attacks or inflammatory language. Importantly, for the public comment
period, there'll be a few opportunities. one near the beginning and one um near the end of the meeting. Uh there's a three minute time limit. The clock is up tonight for for your comments. These are not opportunities for Q&A. They're not
opportunities to ask questions and have the board respond and you can certainly submit those questions to us through the office and we will but that that is not the purpose of the public comment. So, if you uh would refrain from asking direct questions, uh that would help.
And when you speak, just let us know whether you're a resident of Charlottesville, Alma County, or another jurisdiction. But again, the bottom line is we will not be engaging in dialogue. All right. Um let me um with um
gratitude welcome our two newest members. We now have a full board. I was very pleased to having meet Natalie Reeves who's joining us for the first time. Welcome. >> Thank you. >> And Kan Nora Kelly. Welcome to you both.
We're very excited you're here and look forward to working with you. Um let's see. So the next item would be the uh approval of the minutes from the February meeting. You also need to approve the minutes of the January meeting of Mr. Walker.
>> It'll be uh approval of this agenda for tonight and then Oh, I'm sorry. And January >> minutes. Yes. We need to approve the minutes from January. The agenda of tonight before we go on, I had an opportunity. So, introduce ourselves if the new board members want a little
opportunity to introduce themselves. I >> I'd like to hear. >> Okay. >> Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. Uh, my name is Nat Reeves. I have lived in the Charlottville area since 1990. Um, I'm living out right now, but I work
for the city department of teen services um, with the teenagers, so they keep me young. Um, and I'm really glad to be here. >> I am Kan Lan Kelly. I am a journalist and entrepreneur. I've been here in Charlottesville uh, since 2019, I think.
Um really excited to be here, proud to serve this community as well as serve alongside this board and um thank you for having me. >> Thank you for >> Yeah, thank you. >> Welcome joining. >> It's very nice to see a full eight eight
members up there. It's been a while. >> Yeah, it's been a while. Um if I could have a a motion to approve the agenda for tonight and the minutes from January 8th. If there is no discussion second.
>> Okay. All in favor signify by saying I. >> Um James, you want to do the announcement? >> Sure. And then if anybody else has something else, uh feel free to to jump in. So I just the next u internal um community statistics meeting that's
hosted by the police department um is the chief has always made a an option for board members to attend. Um there's a discussion during that meeting of just the the prior month of police data as it relates to uh crime reporting and interventions. And so uh if there's ever
a time that one of you wants to come, I know that we've had kind of a rotation in the past months, we just try to do one seat at a time, one one board member joining at a time, but let me know. So the next one's on February 19th, and they usually are in the mornings right here in this space. Um, usually I I
reach out by email or just send me an email if you want to be the one and whoever takes the slot first uh gets to go. So, but yeah, thank you to the chief for that opportunity for us to join. Uh, and you always uh you always call on us too to see if we have any comments. So, >> oh yeah, you got to participate, man. If
I got to sit there for two hours, you're going to talk about >> my one hour movie. So, yeah, that's the one we go above. >> And then also, uh, just as a reminder, uh, Dr. Dr. Fraser already mentioned it, but in March we will be in the floor below this. So, parks and reccks, you
enter right there by the elevator and the stairs. Um, and I'll have those doors unlocked to come in. And there's a conference room. A little bit cozier, but we'll fit. Um, and that's because they're doing budget sessions and stuff throughout the day up here in the main the main room. So, that will be our new
backup room because we used to be over in neighborhood development and it was just not a good space for the public and there's at least a little bit of extra room downstairs. Um, and so just, you know, if you can't find it, just look for me in the office or see me walking around next month. But I'll remind everybody. And then finally, um, Mrs.
Reeves had shared an opportunity for a upcoming event that's being hosted by the Department of Human Services and I don't know if you wanted to talk a little bit about it. I included the flyer to it. It's it's like the third item underneath the minutes. It's like the green paper. And this might be a good opportunity for
the PCOB to have some representation. Do you want to just share a little bit about us? >> Um, so it'll be our first teen expo and we're covering a few different things. We want to have some businesses there so teens can apply for summer jobs or part-time jobs. We'll also have uh some
vendors there who um specifically market to teens and then just some opportunities for teens to engage in different activities and we'll have workshops as well. So um it's just an opportunity for teenagers to know what's in the community. So, Miss Reeves, is it it's at Carver?
>> It's at Carver >> and it's midday on the 20th. >> They are supposed to be out of school if they do not make that a makeup day. >> And um do we need to sign up in advance or let you or someone know who's going to attend? >> Yep. >> Okay.
>> Save the table. >> So, my whole goal is if we have all the stuff in the office, the table, the uh you know, table linens, um all the swag items, things like that. So, if we just have a little bit of interest from a couple board members, that would be great and then we can make it happen.
Um, I'm happy to help facilitate that, too. >> Know what day of the week that is? >> It's a Friday. >> All right. >> That's a good day for that kind of thing. >> Any other announcements, Mr. >> Uh, I do not have any others unless someone else has something of note that they want to mention to the group. >> Any other board members have an
announcements? >> All right. All right. Next item. I wanted to bring you up to date on the um independent council selection. We have been without an independent council for over two years to represent us should
there be any issues that the city attorney would have to conflict out because there they have to represent the city. So if there was any issue in which we had a a different uh position than the city, we uh we have access to independent council. So the process was
um the city attorney did some um vetting and submitted three names, three attorneys uh to us uh over the last month. Mr. Walker and I interviewed all three of them. Two in person from Charlottesville, the third via Zoom from
Richmond. Um and the the um the code the city code that our section of the code that applies to us um allows for the independent council. It's it is it is in our budget. Um so of the three um they
were all highly qualified. U any of them could have done a terrific job but the one that we landed on to recommend to the board uh is a gentleman named um Martin Khan CNN. He's with Warren Reeves
and Khan in Richmond. as a little bit of his bio on the sheet that was included in the packet. But he uh there were several things that really um jumped out of us out of us favorably in terms of of his uh presentation. One, a real passion
for what we're doing, a real commitment to to our mission. He has a couple of associates that mean we have not having a single attorney to access him or either of his associates and and just just a good feeling about him as as an
individual. Mr. Walker, would you add anything about our interview Mr. Mr. Con? >> Uh I just wanted to to emphasize that all three candidates were very qualified and you know very professional. We were just trying to find someone that was a good fit for the board and the board's mission. Um, and I don't think he he'll
mind me sharing it in the sense that one of the things one of the things he mentioned was that he went home and and told his daughters about this opportunity and they were like, >> "Yeah, Dad, finally do something like this." Uh, that's you know, >> something good, >> but not not to, you know, the the
typical uh lawyer mentality that we that we all have, but um it seemed like they were very eager and passionate about engaging in this kind of work that is community focused. So that was where maybe our decision came from. >> Yeah. He's he's really plugged into the
Richmond community in ter in terms of uh pro bono public service and um we just didn't feel that him being in Richmond was a barrier with Zoom and phone and computers that it wouldn't be necessary really for for him to come up here maybe
once to meet everyone should the board approve the selection. So any any questions about Mr. come before we put it to a vote. >> As I said, >> the only uh thing that I want to say about that um
>> you all did this background whatever and you >> so the the city attorney's office who did that >> the the way the ordinance is laid out, it says the city attorney's office has to vet and verify those candidates first. Then they send an approved list
to us to then interview and select that. The final step is the board votes to move forward with the contract on any other. So >> they yeah they handled that component for us which was very nice of them. >> All right. >> Just as an aside his fee was the lowest
of the three although that wasn't a make or break thing but it was >> whole lot better than the last one. >> We'll talk about that. Um so um can I will entertain a motion to uh approve
the selection of Martin Khan as our independent council if there's no further discussion. >> So moved. >> I'll second it. >> All in favor signify. I >> All right. So we will um get that
contract. Mr. Walker. Uh does that go through the city attorney to >> Yes. I'll I'll communicate with the city attorney's office to kind of see uh what is the the standard procedure for those those types of contracts if they want to see something issued from uh Mr. Khan first or if they have a model that they
they want to use. Um so we'll we'll get moving on that. It was just tonight's vote that kind of wanted to move that forward. >> Yes. >> Good. Thank you all. >> All right. Um this next item is public comment number one. If anyone chooses to speak, you would have three minutes to
speak. Anyone online? Remy can speak. >> One attendee currently doesn't have their hand raised. >> Okay. All right. All right. For our next item, I'm very pleased to welcome uh uh
Chief of Police in the hot seat right here. >> Yes, sir. Chief, >> hey, it'd be more casual of a set than a stand. also welcome Captain Newberry and VA joining us tonight as well. >> Yeah. So our st my staff here, Captain Newberry, he's the captain over our professional standards bureau. And then
Lieutenant Jake Vaia, he well you all know he was here last >> and regularly. So welcome. >> So I've asked the chief to share some comments with us and then I'll open it up uh for questions from board members
any matter related to CTV. Um, so Chief, floor is yours. >> Well, first of all, uh, Mr. Chair, thank you for the invite and for for having me. And, uh, I'll say you should be proud. This is a great site, right? Uh, you got a you have a full board and, uh,
we've spoken a lot about this that a functional PCOB is something that not only I think the community wants, but also that I could tell you that I want and that this police department needs. We need a functional PCO. Um, I look at
this body as a bridge between the police and the community, right? And so, um, and so I think it's really important. I can tell you that, um, there's a lot of work that's been done already. And, um, I can say that, you know, with James
and, uh, Dr. Frasier and whether it be our policy recommendations and updates to multiple policies to uh the access that um that James has um with all of our systems, unfettered access to our
Axon body cam system. There nobody else in the Commonwealth. No other uh PCOB that I believe has that. And um I mean sitting in on our use of force review panels. So James reviews every use of force that comes through the police
department. He's there on those panels and looks at them. So um I think it's a it's a good thing and I think what we've seen and I think you all will see as you go through this whether it be an internal investigation, a use of force investigation or uh whether it be a
policy uh recommendations is that um we're very thorough and we're going to hold people accountable when they need to be held accountable. Um and um and and you know, we invite you all to come to our CompStat meetings or you know uh
or or anything else. I mean it's uh we're our police department's open and that's really the environment that we want to set within the department and the relationship between us and the PCOB. Um Mr. Frasier talked about our comstat meetings. We've been doing those for
about a year and a half, Tony. Is that right? >> Two years. >> About two years now. That was one of our strategic priorities early on and th those meetings when you come to them like I said I kind of said jokingly it's two hours it is every bit of two hours
um not long but we it's a lot of stuff it's a lot of information and we are looking at data we are looking at trends we are we are our command each commander from each sector has to get up and and speak to what they're doing about these things whether it be community engagement strategies enforcement
strategies whatever the case may be trying to identify what are some of these uh what's causing some of the the areas to where we're seeing spikes in in in different things. And so something that my staff knows that every month they're going to have to stand up in front of me and explain what they're
doing to address these issues in our community and um and we've seen some results. And so um and so I think that's great. Um a few quick things uh going on within the police department now. It's budget season. It's probably why you guys have to be downstairs next week. I'm in terms of think have a work
session down here or something. I've been told it's a tough budget this year. He's told that for the past 28 years in this job. So, um but uh it is it's going to be a tough budget year and city manager is working diligently with his team and we actually met today. Um and
they're uh yeah, they're working hard. So, um so that's taken up a lot of time. Um our strategic plan, we are in the process of building out our next strategic plan for our next three years. So three years ago, we developed a three-year strategic plan with three
overarching priorities. Priority number one was building community partnerships addressing gun violence. Number two was recruitment and retention. Number three was the treatment and wellness of our staff. And we've hit a and under under each one of those three overarching
priorities are a lot of things that we need to do, right? And so we've hit a lot of those things and have made a ton of progress in those areas. Um, so as we build on on to that for the next three years, those three overarching priorities will remain the same, but we're adding one, and that is
sustainability. And sustainability means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but that is one of the city's priorities, right? And that means everything from uh looking at uh you know more uh look like hybrid vehicles, right? Transitioning to or seeing where
can we go to EV if if possible, right? Obviously, there's budget constraints and all that kind of stuff. Um, but that's that we're going to be adding that into that overarching priority. And then, uh, Assistant Chief Mihan, who is working on that strategic planning
process, is in right now developing, um, a a stakeholder map, meaning who do we need to be getting involved in this process of building our strategic plan. Um, surprise, you all will be one of them. Okay. So he will be reaching out to this
group to sit down and and talk about that as well. Um other community groups, our community action team that meets regularly and um so you should be hearing something about that. But we are in the process of building out our next strategic plan for the next three years and I would like to have you part of
that process. So um few things from a community standpoint, some of the things we're doing, we just started our second Hispanic community academy um last night. No, last night, two nights ago. I'm losing track of time. Um, and we
began this last year when obviously we we realized that a lot going on in our community and and around this country when it comes to immigration enforcement and actions on behalf of the federal government. Um, you know, we want to
make sure that those in our community who are victims of crime feel comfortable calling us and reporting those crimes, right? We the last thing I want as a police chief is somebody to be a victim of a crime and then hesitate calling us. And so the idea is to build
meaningful relationships with our Hispanic community where they know that okay, they may not feel comfortable call 911, but they're going to know somebody face to face within the Charlottesville Police Department and we could care less what your immigration status is that you can call directly if there you're a
victim of a crime or someone you know is a victim of a crime and we will work with you and we'll take that report and we will investigate it. I I think that's really important. We've seen um these classes fill up quickly and uh you know the relationships that are being built
are tremendous. Uh I just met with um he's the director of Simbus last week. Um I met with the community group over in Carlton Mobile Home Park about the week before there were like 30 some families there as well. Just really having conversations and listening to
how folks are doing uh in the Hispanic community. Um, I'll tell you that it was clear to me they're scared to death and uh we have to as a police department who is here for them. We are their police department too that we uh that we
continue to reach out to them and let them know that we're here for them. And so uh we will continue we will continue to do that and look forward to building off of that uh that progress. And so with that um I'll open it up to questions. I told uh Sheriff Frasier
that I any question Nothing's off the table. >> Nothing. >> Well, it I think the media is in the room, too. >> I have a question. Yes. I was um pleased to see last week, I think, that the
statistics on the reduction in gun violence, the 51% reduction, remarkable statistic. And I wonder if you could share with us some of your thoughts about how you got there. you know, I I got this question today from a reporter um and he that was the exact question
and I started to talk about all the things and he's like, "Well, I was hoping for kind of a simple answer." And I was and I said, "Well, the simple answer is there's not a simple answer." Um, when you talk about reductions in crime that we're seeing, and just to say, we're not the only ones seeing
reductions like this. I mean, Rick Edwards, Chief Edwards in Richmond just did a press conference about two weeks ago uh seeing similar results. We're seeing this around the country, too. Um, but it's not just one thing. I can't sit here and say that, you know, uh, the police were out here and and and and
we're we're doing the a great job and we've we us alone have done this. No, we can't say that. This was, uh, when I look at those numbers, I and and think about, you know, how have we gotten here? I mean, if we remember three years ago, 2023 was a tough year. We had six
homicides. uh between January, February, March. Yeah, between January and March, I want to say we had four homicides in the first three months of 2023. We were averaging a shots fired call day. Um the community was going through a lot. And if you go back and you look at the community meeting that we had at Trinity
Church, >> it was uh it was lively. >> Um and but the thing I took away from that meeting was that this community cares. this community was I want to say they were upset but not necessarily at
at the police but upset that that this was happening right and um I gotta tell you just the the partnerships the um just the community the amount of community groups and members who want to be involved and help addressing the issues within the community that we're
seeing um are you know it it it makes you feel good as a chief that you're not in this alone right and so um so Yes, we've done some things, right? We we've, you know, the strategic deployment of resources, putting cops where they are when they need to be there, and then
make sure when they're there, they're doing what we need to be doing, and that is getting out of your car, meeting with folks, building relationships, um all those important things that that we need to do. um to our focused deterrence model. We know that a
majority of our violent crime that we see in this city and in many cities is really committed by a very small group of individuals. And so identif identifying those individuals and really take a focused approach to addressing them to addressing to addressing the
issue to identifying who they are and and focusing on on individual people instead of communities. I think we've seen that in the past, right? you would see a crime spike in a neighborhood and police would flood that neighborhood and and people would feel like they are uh
under siege or something, right? That that doesn't necessarily work and the long-term uh issues stuff like that cause um it just if it it goes towards, you know, uh ruining that trust that we work so hard to build. So, there's that and then our
community partnerships. You know, community partnerships are key. We can't do anything with this, right, without without that. So, we um like I said, it's not a quick answer, right? >> Is it your sense or is there data do you have that suggests there fewer guns on
the street? >> Oh, no. No. >> So, that's not that's not the >> No, no, I don't think there's fewer guns on I mean, I don't know. I don't have those numbers, right? But I I not I don't think I I would say that. Um, you know, most of the guns that we're
seeing on the street are are stolen out of people's vehicles. We know that. Um, you know, but no, we're I don't think we're seeing less guns on the street. Uh, we are seeing obviously we've seen significant reductions in our shots fired calls, but the shots fired calls
we are seeing there's more rounds being fired. So that's, you know, there we're talking now we're talking, you know, uh, larger magazine capacities. um more more semi-automatic rifles, stuff like that. So, while the incidents
are down, um there there's more rounds that are being fired. >> Oh, if I can do a follow up on that. >> Yes, sir. I'm just curious about um uh if you have done sort of social I'll call them like social autopsies on like
following the people who have had guns from uh you know kind of in the past uh whether it's through narratives or through I'm I'm kind of asking a question about investigation and I'm curious if if you feel like you have a paper trail
>> specific enough to see what has changed in the years from when there were a lot of homicides and and shots fired to now when there's not. >> Yeah. I No, we haven't done that type of analysis on specific individuals, right?
Um I'll just be honest and Captain Newberry and Lieutenant BACK there correct me if I'm wrong tell me. But prior to about three years ago, there was a time that that from the police department standpoint, you got to remember three years ago, we had 30
vacancies. That's a lot. I think today we have four or really two because we're we're hiring two here soon. So really too and so um you know you need people to do things and and be out there and
and you know engage with the communities and and um identify individuals who who are committing crime you know um but no haven't haven't really done that >> a social >> yeah and I was just and to be clear just
so you know my intention with asking any of these qu I'm just really curious as you know about trying to figure out uh mechanism for everything. You know, mechanisms is probably my favorite word. Um, and I love following the the >> uh the reasons for why why things are happening because that makes it so all
of us together can keep the community much safer um and retain that safety. Um, so you know, if a lot of folks think getting guns off the streets, that's what's important and then they're out saying that's that's really important
and here you can say this that actually wasn't a variable that was changing between uh, you know, the drastic decrease in in in shots fired and homicides that feels important to track and also to to kind of uh, be able to report out to the public. Well, I think
to to your point, I I do think you make a good point in the sense, you know, trying to, you know, understanding the root causes what, you know, why why are why are we seeing why why are they carrying guns, you know, right? Um Andy Block with UVA
recently did a report, excellent report, um with his staff and uh that report talked about, you know, interviewing kids why they don't feel safe. Mhm. >> And so if you don't feel safe, you're carrying a firearm. And if you're carrying a firearm and and in and some type of,
>> you know, you know, and so obviously it's much more complex than that, >> but um I I thought I thought that report was excellent. And um and you know, yeah, getting getting to figure figuring out kind of how do you get upstream on some of these things? Re-entry is
another big piece. Was talking to someone last week about this. So the reality of it is is most people who are arrested don't go to jail for the rest or prison for the rest of their lives. >> They just don't. Right? And so if we are going to make real progress,
especially if we believe in that focused deterrence model that that a small group of individuals are committing a lot of other crimes, we need to really invest in re-entry >> so that folks when they do come out of prison or jail, wherever where they're where they're coming from, that they
could come back into our communities and be productive members of society. And so, um, yeah, there's a lot there's a lot to unpack when we start talking about root causes. >> Yes, sir. >> What progress is made in re-entry? What
thoughts do you have on how to improve that? >> It's not my re-entry programs, if you will, is not not necessarily my thing, but I will tell you, you know, the city has a program, home to hope, which is an excellent program. um you know but when
we talk about home to hope we got to talk about capacity right it's a small office and they're being asked to do a lot of things right and it's an important job it's an important mission so um yeah I think I mean job training right but that's got to start it's my I
mean if you think about it that needs to start before people get out of prison right and then you got to talk about infrastructure within prisons you know within prisons a lot of them don't have Wi-Fi, right? Or or internet access. Those those types of issues that are there. So, how do you do,
you know, vocational trainings or college training when you don't have that type of infrastructure in our correction systems? So, it's a complicated issue. I was speaking with the Secretary of Public Safety last week and uh he was
just saying it's there's just so many things when you talk about Department of Corrections and in that area of re-entry and uh and training that that they have to address. Oh, and by the way, they have about 50 60% vacancy rate with the Department of Correction. I want to say
they have like 1500 vacancies. >> You mean with correctional officers? >> Wow. It's they it's they're it's a tough tough situation right now. >> Other questions. This may be a stupid question, but I when I hear on the news
shots fired finding what 30 rounds on the street, what is what is causing that? Who is firing at what and why? What do you know about that? >> So large capacity magazines, right? And um sometimes we'll see them in in
rifles. So you you know when we collect rounds at 5.56 is usually an AR-15 type style rifle. 7 77 or 762. Is that right? >> Tony 556 762. >> So I mean we're talk we're talking like
uh you know AR-15 style rifles that they're firing. So you can get a lot of rounds off in a short period of time. Um what are we seeing? We're seeing random spraying of rounds at at at homes or at properties. >> Let me ask you one question to you, sir.
Um, >> when you when you get these calls on fire, >> is it any particular place that it almost is like it always happened? >> No, >> not really. No, >> I mean the city's only what 10 square
miles. >> Yeah, it's not that big. So yeah, it's but it's not necessarily one specific spot. >> And the reason being reason and I'm asking because >> do hear about shots fire. It's in it's it's beginning to happen in areas that you never used to hear.
>> You know what I'm saying? >> Yeah. >> You know, so that's that's why I was asking about that. You know, at one time you could almost pinpoint >> where where it was happening, >> right? you know, but now you're hearing about places now that
>> you I never heard that it was happening, you know. >> Yeah. There's not a uh I wouldn't say there's a sus a specific area of the city that you see see him most most of the time. >> They don't seem to be too many injuries
or as many injuries as you might think. >> Right. No, you're right. >> I got shots. >> You're right. You're right. Uh, we don't >> I don't I'm trying to get my head around >> why, >> you know, maybe to try to instill fear in someone. I'm guessing, you know, but
>> yeah, >> turf some, you know, a lot of turf, you know, they >> it's, you know, >> other questions. >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. So, um, I'm curious whether or not there is a separate mental health
response team that works alongside the police. there is >> to deescalate and does that extend to uh people who are when you are responding to uh shots, fire, calls for instance in the community may be frightened or scared. Is there support for the
community or just for victims of >> right now? So that's a good question. So we have a team called the anchor team. Okay. Um we have two officers assigned to that team. It also has paramedics and um peer counselors that are on it as
well. Um, it's still new. It's about a year, two years old now, right? So, um, I would love to get it where they are working 24 hours a day. We're just not there yet. Um, but, uh, they they they
respond to all kinds of calls. They do um, typically on our shots with our shots fired calls. Again, we don't have a lot of them, so think that's a good thing. But um when they do, we don't that they don't necessarily go out afterwards and talk. Now, sometimes it depends what's going on in that
neighborhood. You know, we still do our weekly walks and we go out um sometimes we'll go out in those areas and talk to folks afterwards. Um it is something I would like to do. I think I'll be honest with you, I think it's probably a capacity issue. Uh the city of Ron Oak
has a program called Reset. um where they when stuff like that happens um it's a team that goes out and they walk that neighborhood and offer services and stuff of that nature. Uh great program. Um they also are are dealing with a lot
more violent crime than we are. >> I can follow up to that. Um >> can you talk more about the limitations of expanding capacity of the anchor team >> money? >> Yeah. So not to oversimplify it, but
that that's really I mean if if the if if I was given five more officers to assign to an anchor team, I get five more officers to assign to an anchor team. >> And so are you hiring officers with the knowledge that they will be assigned to the anchor team and that will be there? >> That's what we would do. Yeah. So so we
so how it works is we have a a set limit of allocated sworn officers, right? And then so if say uh we want to add a third anchor team, well then I need an officer to put on that team. So we would hire a
new officer, send them to the academy, then they go through field training and all that. Then they get released. When that happens, then we advertise internally for that anchor position. Typically it's more senior officer that would then get assigned. So there would have to be a process and get assigned. So it is it's
it's a process. So the other piece of it is say if say if council were to approve another position say in July this July with the budget right so then we can go ahead and start hiring hiring an officer takes anywhere between three to four months from start to finish and then the
academy is about five months and then field then post academy training is eight weeks and then field training is probably another three or four months you're talking about a year so Um but yeah, but it comes it comes down to
funding. It really does. So because our core mission always has to take precedent and is that when someone calls 911 that police officer can right last year we had almost 49,000 calls for service and that's almost one for every
person in the city. Um and so we have to make sure that's our core function is responding to those calls and then everything else and and investigation of everything else that's to come. >> Chief, the anchor team is responding though to folks in acute mental health
crisis, right? I mean y >> rather than just send out officers perhaps without any training and mental health crisis. >> And that has helped from a staffing standpoint too because it frees up officers do other things. >> Yes. >> Um >> yeah. So, >> I can't imagine someone not trained. I
mean, it's it's an unpredictable situation having made my career out of it. Someone would want to go into that situation without knowing what they're getting into. So, I think it's a great model and I hope we can expand it. >> Would love to. >> Yeah.
>> Yes. Go on. Go ahead. >> Oh. Um, you mentioned earlier about the community academy for the Latino community here and I wanted to ask you about the police response when it comes to the unhoused and the threat of ICE intervening in cities. What is the
strategic plan to assist those people who often resist um getting help um if they're on the street? But homelessness looks different in a categorized a lot of different ways. It's not just the people who are on the street, it's
people who are stacked up in their homes. And you mentioned the fear that is with the community and other ethnic communities across this country. What is the strategic plan if uh ICE shows up? >> So I'll answer. So I'm going to take that as like two questions. So first I'm
talk about our unhoused population. And I think the same could be said for our um our Latino community. The work has to begin way before something, right? And so that is why we're doing the outreach that we're doing with with our Latino community and
with our on house community. I can tell you the officers that are work working down here on the mall each and every day. They know >> everybody >> everyone our uh community involvement coord coordinator Sergeant Thomas and Lieutenant Greg Wade who work in that office. Uh they're down on Ravana Trail
on a regular bail. everyone out there. I get text messages from from unhouse community on my phone who I have relationships with about stuff and so so the work with those relationships have to has to have a way before things and
so when we do have some going on um with say someone from our unhoused community, you know, we'll we'll try to make sure it's someone that they know is it that that's responding. Um, but I will say by and large our officers know
most of our own house neighbors. I would argue probably better than most. Um, and they and they have relationships with them. Uh, I watch their interactions through their body cameras as well. And I've seen officers
take folks and go buy them dinner and put them up in a hotel room on their own dime. um that's a regular occurrence. Our officers sincerely care about these folks and so um so it's that's how how
we deal with that. The immigration enforcement thing is a whole other thing, right? Um so we have never done immigration enforcement. It's not our job to do immigration enforcement. uh most federal
immigration law is administrative law and so it's not something that one we've ever done or two we've ever been ever could do right so you know there's a there's been a lot of talk around this and and and look what we've seen in
Minneapolis and and I feel comfortable saying this and I've said this publicly um when it comes to the the actions of um of federal law enforcement in Minneapolis recently um is not professional, constitutional
and community based policing. That's not what we've been seeing. And uh police departments have been working very hard to build trust in our communities. And when you see stuff like that, that doesn't help. And so it's
making our job a lot harder. That's the real truth of it. Um immigration enforcement, we you know, I'll be honest with you, I I can't remember them calling me since I've been here about anything. And so I'm trying to think they they have it
now. They don't call and say, "Hey, we're coming into the city to do this or that." It's not something they do. Um they do their own thing. Um to be very clear, I can't interfere with federal immigration enforcement. That's against the law. I can't I cannot do that. I
cannot if I did know they were coming into the city, I can't call and warn people or and stuff like I can't do that. but we're also not going to be involved, you know. Um, so it it's a uh it's a difficult situation. It's clearly making our jobs a lot harder and I don't
think what they're doing is making our community safer. >> Chief, did they governor, I'm sorry, um, sign an executive order uh, regarding cooperation with ICE? >> Yes. So the governor, initially the
governor signed executive order 10, I believe it was on day one, and uh that was just reversing uh Governor Yncan's executive order 47, which didn't really impact local law enforcement. It was it really just
impacted jails and sheriff's offices and stuff throughout the the Commonwealth. recently, last week, um the governor um issued, I believe it was an executive order, or maybe it was a an an addendum
or an attachment to her executive order 10 that basically said, um Virginia State Police or Virginia agencies that are signed on to the 287G program, which is a uh if you are remember I was just saying that we don't have the authority
to enforce federal administrative law. if you sign on to that 287G program as a law enforcement organization, you can get you have that, right? And so there were Virginia state agencies like Virginia State Police and
others that had that and she then she pulled them from that they pulled out of those agreements. So that's what that's what happened. >> Go ahead. >> Andrew also had a question earlier. >> I wanted to go back to to anchor for a minute.
>> Yes, sir. I know that the department strives to have everybody go through CIT, but do the anchor officers get additional training? >> Yes. And yes. So, we are our goal is to have 100% of our staff um certified in
CIT. Um >> would you say what that is for those that don't know? >> Yeah, crisis intervention training. It's a 40hour course, you know, for an entire week. It's it's a it's extensive. And um the challenge is the CIT model
recommends that an officer be here for a little while before they go to that training to have so they have some type of a perspective. Um the reality of it is like I said we had 30 vacancies three years ago. I have a very young workforce, right? So we're in the process of doing doing that and getting
them trained through our CIT uh program. And then our anchor team does receive extra training. They recently just went down to Durham, North Carolina uh and worked with them. They have a really robust program down there. Um I don't I can get you details of what other trainings they have. They do, but I
don't have it in front of me. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Can we go back to the ice for a minute because I remember an incident where two ICE agents came into the Charlottesville General District Court. Could you speak up a bit? >> Sorry. I remember an incident where two
ICE agents came into the Charlottesville General District Court. I think they were masked and they didn't identify themselves. Yeah. So, you >> have any control over >> I have no control over the courthouse. The courthouse was Alar That was Al Marl County Courthouse. So, it would have been Al County Sheriff's Office. Um I
don't know the details about that case other than um you're right. Somebody was wearing a mask. They didn't have a badge out or anything like that. Obviously, uh that's just not good business. You don't I mean as someone who has been in policing for 28 years um I still tr
struggle understanding why as a police officer or law enforcement wearing a mask unless you're in an undercover capacity absent that I don't know uh it is my view that um communities get to know who their police officers are. It's why we
wear name tags. That's why our police cars have numbers on them. It's why we wear uniforms. um we're not an anonymous force, right? And so uh now I've heard the arguments that um they're being doxed and
threatened and and I I understand that my officers are threatened all the time and it's not good and and people should be helping that. >> What's that? >> Doxed and threatened. I'm not sure I follow you. >> Yeah. So doxed meaning like their their identities are known and then people are
calling like 911 calls to their house and stuff like that. Yeah. Um and and that's, you know, those cases should be prosecuted. You know, you you shouldn't be threatening law enforcement officers and and doing those things, but um I
just I don't buy into the idea of of law enforcement wearing masks just as a matter of business. >> So, I say you're not able to, you know, uh distract, get in the way of federal
immigration enforcement. But if someone is turning up with a mask and without a badge, your officers have no way of knowing if they are true. Like if this were 2022, >> right, >> and a man showed up at someone's house with a gun and a mask, like a
Charlottville police officer should arrest that person. >> Yes. So that's a different scenario, right? So >> yeah. So I guess >> so you know. >> Well, that's the thing. How would you how would you know that they are ICE officers? >> Well, if immigration Yes. So, if
immigration shows up, they have a badge out, they have a vest on because immigration enforcement, whatever. You know, that's one scenario. The scenario you're talking about, absolutely. Somebody walking down the street, they have a mask on, and they go and grab somebody like they're abducting them. Our officers should and will inter interfere and find
out what's going on. That's their duty. That's their job. So, um, we have a duty to intervene if we see something happening that's illegal or unconstitutional on behalf of another police officer. But again, there's a, you know, there's a lot of different
scenarios that we can talk about. Um, and with and and each one of them are going to have to be handled in very different situations, but by and large in general, the interfering with federal immigration or federal officers is not something that we can do.
Do they have to go through the security of the >> back to the courthouse? Yeah. So, they would have had to have gone through the security and um >> being masked, they would have gotten through the security >> and I and I don't know because again that we weren't involved in it. That was a sheriff's office.
>> So, I am a dual service vet and I'm just curious whether or not there are any specific initiatives to engage the veterans in this area. It's a pretty significant population. um whether that's in uh recruitment or uh community support. >> So, first of all, thank you for your service. >> You're worth it.
>> I I am >> um so uh we don't have like a veterans court like some jurisdictions do. Uh I would I wish we did. That's something that would be worked out at a Commonwealth attorney's office. Um but no, we don't have any specific unit or specific program for our veteran community. U would love to. Again, I
think that's a capac it's more of a capacity issue. >> Does that represent a significant portion of your recruits though or postmilitary? I know in in the past that was the case. Is that still true, Chief? >> Um, not as many as it used to, but we
still do. We we have a significant amount of efforts. >> Um, I uh, you know, we talk about accountability a lot. Um, and I think it's a fun word to throw around, but it's really hard to to actually
implement. Um, and on the board, one of the things that I feel is a personal kind of like charge of of this board is to uh hold the police department to the high standards that that you're honestly setting, but also the community setting.
Um, and a lot of what we've talked about, I think it just makes it really difficult to hold folks accountable. Even just if I'm tracking some of the examples like uh getting out of your car, getting out of your car to go talk to people, getting out of your go car to
go talk to people in a way that isn't going to be perceived as threatening, you know, and is isn't just surveillance, but it's actually trying to be uh relationship building. Personally, I I feel that there there's been so much great work done by a lot of the folks in Charlottesville Police
Department that I've gotten to meet and see and observe, but who cares about my personal opinion because the community has no idea and they're going to want to see that people are being held accountable, right? And so that for me seems like we need to be, as you know, you know me.
>> How you going to measure it? >> I knew that's what you said. >> That's right. Uh, and so, you know, that's I mean that's a that's a a very difficult charge for anyone in public safety and anyone in in in community
well-being or public policy, anyone. So, it's not to put it all on your shoulders, but I just want I mostly am saying this out uh to to say for anyone listening once again, anyone on this board that I think if we really want to hold those things as important that
anytime we're talking about it, we have to jump straight to how are we actually keeping people accountable for it? How are you going to measure it? How are you going to observe it? How are you going to get it communicated to other people? Because the reality probably is that there's officers doing it literally right now. I know they are. Yeah.
>> But no one knows about it and therefore for a lot of people it's not happening >> and that's just not the truth >> or at least we can't verify it. So that's just my challenge with all this this discussion sometimes is it's really really hard because I don't know
sometimes what we can do to you know uh yeah >> I think and you and you and I Dr. Austin have spoken about this a lot, right? We talk I mean what is what is a true measure of success for a police department and I think it depends on the department, depends on the locality, right?
>> Um for here I I look at the end of the day it's it's about building trust in the community because we we have to do that. And so how do you do that? You build trust by building relationships. And how do you build relationships? Build relationships by being present. >> Y present consistently. Not just once,
not just twice, right? And you know, look, as simple as getting out and walking a community, um, I mean, we did our weekly community walk today over on over on Sixth Street, and man, I talked to folks on the front porch for like 20,
30 minutes about real issues to them, >> like like a a a drainage area that wasn't working, right? The water runoff. And so I called the public works director. Right. Right. Those are real conversations, real things that
matter to folks in those communities. >> And so, but and so how do you measure, we talked about, how do you measure trust? >> I've challenged you. I said, I don't know if you can. And you're like, I'm going to figure it out. Oh, yeah. >> And so, we're, you know, that's I hope we can. >> Yes. >> But you're right. And for me, it's about
setting clear expectations to the folks within the four four walls of that building over there about what's expected of them, the type of policing that is expected of them, >> and um and go from there. But >> yeah, just to kind of continue the
dialogue a little bit here, I'm uh again, I invite anyone else who has other opinions, uh especially other law enforcement in the room. Uh well, actually, I guess not. Uh >> it's his time. Okay. Well, I don't know how this works. Um, so, uh, but just even just thinking
about professional sort of standards and and things like that. I mean, um, uh, if if you're if you're talking to I mean, what you just described, you know, in a lot of ways, some people might go, that's not police work, that's social work. It's like, okay, well, you think
of that, you know, you're as the chief going and making those calls. that's appreciated by those people. But again, I wonder where is that getting tracked because that's really important. Now, one of the ideas that I have is just at least getting it in the narratives because at least that's something that
is, you know, it's foyable. I suppose it's something that, you know, the board technically could go and and verify um if someone were to ask, are police really going out and doing these things? Well, now it's in the report. Um, I'm just curious if that's part of of the big push from y'all is if you're out
there talking to someone, I know you don't feel like it, write it down. Write down what you're doing. So, it's interesting you talk about stop police work, stuff like that. So, I get that question a lot, right? We need to be tougher on crime. And I said, well, what does that really mean? I said, well,
what we're doing seems to be pretty tough on crime. Look at the numbers. Okay. And so, I don't know. Is a 51% reduction in gun-related incidents tough enough? Is a 17% or 10% part one crime reduction tough enough? Right? Is a, you
know, 58% reduction in overdoses that tough. I mean, like, so how do we get, you know, so those are results, right? Results not just from the police department, but work within the work in the community as well that the community's been doing. >> And so, you know, but you're right. It's
a we we we've we've talked about this a lot, but uh >> how do you measure those things? >> Yeah. >> Um could you bring us up to date on the uh status of the school resource officers and theou city regarding the SRO's? >> So theou has been signed.
>> Okay. >> Uh we'll have two SRO's going to the school >> memorandum of understanding. I'm sorry. >> Uh we have two two school resource officers going into the schools next school year. one in high school, one in the middle school. >> Okay. >> Um and that's going to be for the first
year. Um and so we are in the process of identifying and interviewing and going through that whole process of identifying who those two SRO's are going to be and uh going from there. But the mo a memorandum of understanding has been signed approved and >> and will they be um somewhat seasoned
officers? I mean is the intention? >> I hope so. >> Yeah. So school's going to be involved in that selection process as well. So it's going to be a joint selection. Maybe one more question. >> I just wanted to piggyback on um something Dr. Dobson said. Um
isn't police work inherently social though? >> Oh yes. >> Because I mean you deal with people and I think when when we were talk when Mr. Dilllet spoke about relationships and building those relationships in the community, it's necessary. But is there
a line that can be crossed or a line that can be drawn when it comes to police work versus social work or >> the marriage of the two? >> Yeah, I I agree with you. I do think they're connected, right? So, our an officer responding to a call, a violent
incident and a suspect is on the scene and and they have to deal with that, right? Um and how they deal with that, you know, if it could be escalated very quickly, it al also could be deescalated very quickly. And that all depends on how the officer handles that interaction, right? Um, we also can't
forget that a lot of what our officers do is very dangerous work, right? Removing guns off the street, removing guns like Dracos and AR-15s and taking those off of people, that's it's dangerous work. You know, I watch it all the time. I I did it. I've done it for
many years. Um, and that is part of the job. our part of our mission, part of our job is to remove the criminal element off the street. Um, but equally as important is to make sure we're building community partnerships, that we're working with the community, and
that we're policing in a way that the community expects us to be. The community gets to have a say on how they want to be policed. You know, we talk about this with technology. My peers, we talk about technology. You go to places like Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlington, Portsouth, Northfor, they got cameras
and tech, real-time crime centers and all of that. Their communities are okay with that, right? We don't have that and that's okay, right? We we will find other ways to do things, you know, and
so um each community is very unique on on how we are going to go about doing our jobs, and we have to recognize that. All right, Chief. Thank you very much. >> All right. Thank you. That was your time. Appreciate your cooperation and we look forward to
continuing to work with you and bring some accountability when we feel it's necessary. >> Absolutely. Looking forward to it and thank you all for volunteering on your own time. Again, I was just telling our folks at the Hispanic Academy, folks who volunteer their time on a regular basis
like this, I'm a career bureaucrat. I've been in government my entire life. you know, I've been paid to do these late night meetings and stuff. I'm often in awe of folks who volunteer their time to do this stuff and so thank you. Really do appreciate it. >> Thanks for your time. >> Because we're not out in the streets all
the time, but the times that I have seen you walk down the community. Fantastic. >> Y thank you. >> And you are all welcome. Anytime we post when we go out every week, we've walked a different community every week for the last three years. >> Plug in to do a walk along with the chief. And I want everybody getting to sign up for a ride along with an
officer. That is a yes real eye opening experience if you haven't done one. >> Anytime. We'll set it up. >> Yep. Thanks, Chief. >> Thank you, guys. >> All right. Uh James, I'm gonna kick it over to you. Board work plan focus area.
>> Um and this is a good opportunity to mention um two things really quick. So, Sergeant Thomas um sends me every week when the police department is doing their community walks and it's usually kind of a short window of notice though. So,
>> if you're interested in that and we you want to be prepared for when that occurs. Usually, it's it's kind of >> usually Thursday afternoons, isn't it? >> Does it change some days? Community walks are they a specific day and time? >> It does. We announce it on Mondays. >> Mondays. Yeah. Yeah. So, so I could let you know on a Monday when it's going to
occur that week >> and people are listening because even today on our walk um we had a business owner show walk with us. >> If more than two of us though, is that a problem in terms of the public meetings question?
>> We're just outside. That's not to run into a couple of my fellow board members. >> We are on board business in that regard. Um, but that would be a question though. I think it may be >> from city attorney. >> Yeah. So, >> maybe we need to get an answer on that in case three or four of us show up on
the same same day. >> But maybe better in the meantime coordinate through Mr. Walker uh that you do want to go on a walk. >> The other piece I wanted to update on is I also talked to Sergeant Thomas about um the ride alongs. So, there is a form. I wanted to just mention it tonight. Um,
I'm just going to send it out to everyone. That needs to be completed in order to do those. Um, and then once that's done, we can we're trying to talk about depending on how many people are interested sooner rather than later. Try to coordinate some of that uh through myself. So, it's not Sergeant Thomas
getting a bunch of just, you know, random emails from different board members at different times. Um, and and I'm going to be working to participate in those as well. So I think that's a great opportunity for all of us and I will be sending that out to you so that you can see the form and we can get that at that piece of the equation uh
completed. >> We are going to go. >> Thank you gentlemen. >> Thank you. >> Anyone has any questions you can send. >> I really would like to make it a priority for each of us. If you haven't
done one but do one. If you've done one maybe do another. It's it's just really instructive in terms of what we're able to do. So, we we'll be you'll be hearing more from the office about that. >> Go ahead, James. >> Yep. And then so our next item on the
list, we I I kind of altered this a little bit after a conversation that um Dr. Frasier, Dr. Dobson, and I had today. We just wanted to make sure that as much time was given for this discussion with the chief because it's a rarer opportunity. And we were talking about we hope a lot of these meetings in
the future if the board wants to go in this direction is about moments like that. Not only having guest speakers and these sort of question and answer sessions, but also time for us to report out as a board what work is being worked on behind the scenes, what things are
being accomplished, what uh events the board has attended and and conversations that have been had with the community. So, kind of weaving into that, um, one of the things that we have been working on recently is early in the year establishing a a work plan for the
board. Getting a sense of how does the board do its work? Uh, how does it carry forward from a a place of speaking to the community, understanding the community's needs and what the community feels about their experience with policing, shifting that into really understanding where we're going to
prioritize our time because everyone has very limited time. I understand that. we all do. Uh and then looking at okay well what kind of work does needs to be done? Is it something related to the policies of the department? Is it something related to uh doing a review of cases?
Is it uh going to specific events and meetings and speaking or being able to listen and ask questions of let's say related to school resource officers? And then finally, reporting out. And that's I think the key component that is great about this time, trying to be able to
report out what this board is doing, what products are being produced, what decisions are being made, and and formally making a lot of those decisions in this public setting. And that's really what it's for. But to speak to that, a lot of times we're recognizing this need to to get work done between these meetings from month to month. And
that is a challenge. Um, a lot of times I I I try not to send too many emails. I try to do them bi-weekly, once every two weeks. And emails, as you know, is not really I hate email. I I I really do. Um it's not a great place to do work because it's a lot of back and forth and
potentially misunderstanding and it's very kind of a slow process, especially as a group gets larger and larger. So, one of the conversations was around thinking about how we might move into a work session opportunity or opportunities that not doesn't
necessarily have to be all board members. I mean, we've talked about committees before. Whenever we get into that discussion of a work session or a committee or any of that framework, we just have to publicly put out notice that we're going to do that. and doesn't have to be in front of the cameras and the lights and all that,
but it can be just more, you know, a little bit more casual in the office, but we're actually there for a specific purpose to work on something specifically and get that final product done or that work finished. Um, and so to speak to that, one of the things that we've been working on recently is what
is our outreach process look like? >> We created an outreach process uh just Dr. Dobson and I mainly working behind the scenes um over the past couple weeks and it is not meant to be this uh formal stuffy document that says you have to do
this this and this in order to reach out to people. What it's meant to do is guide the fact that we need to be intentional about reaching out to the community. But then we also have to be intentional about documenting like Dr. Doson was saying uh there's this board and and this office have done a lot of outreach over the years, but a lot of
times it happens and then it goes into some black hole that we never know what came out of that. What what were the main themes that were being shared? And so one of the things is trying to find a way that we can identify who we need to reach out to, how to connect with them,
uh, and then actually make that happen and bring something back tangible from that so that we start to collect this repository of input, feedback, and connections with the community. Relationships that we have that are not just oneoffs, but ones that we maintain.
Um, and that takes the work of all of us because it's certainly, as you know, I'm the only one in the office right now. That's that's certainly not something I can do by myself. And as board members, you have the better access into various aspects of the community already. And so it's it's a group effort for sure. And
my role is to really support the direction the board wants to take with that. So I do have that included at the back of the packet today. Um that PCOB outreach document. It's just something to read through and engage with. But one of the things I wanted to mention is
there are a lot of quick links inside of this document. And that's because a lot of the items that we're going to have to interact with exist inside of a city server, right? So, if we're going to open one of the very first things you see is the selection. There is a directory that we've been building on
all the different um community connections we might make, whether that's churches or religious institutions, whether it's neighborhood associations, whether it's nonprofits or individuals. Our goal is to try to build out that directory. But that's something that's behind the locked link that only you with your city account can access.
And so that's I've been pushing that issue and talking about that because there's some things like that that we're going to have to keep behind the scenes. And so as you go through this and just think about what it's what it's kind of laying out is just saying, "Hey board members, here's how we try to figure out
who we pick and try to keep track of who we're talking to. Here's how we reach out and just say establish communication. Try to see what works for that community member." And then the final piece is go and have that connection whether it's you know us joining their meeting. Um Dr. Dobson and
I Mr. Dillard invited us to the NAACP meeting this past Monday. Mr. Dillard is the vice president um of the local chapter here. So, I appreciate that. And we had a good 20 30 minutes to >> have some dialogue and and answer some questions. And um those are the kind of
things that, you know, that's how we get out into that community and have those conversations and bring back feedback and input. And this is just a you know, the bureaucratic as as the chief was saying, the bureaucratic way to document here's what we're doing, but actually doing it look may look a lot different
in some ways. And this might need to adjust to match what works for us as a board. um and and myself is from the office side. So, I just wanted to mention that and I wanted to put it in front of you and I think that it's a piece that we're going to be figuring out as we go. We're going to be refining what we're
doing and how we're doing it. Um >> and learning as we go. >> Yeah. I was just going to ask a quick temperature check for especially the new board members if this feels overwhelming, helpful. It's hard for me to kind of perspective take if I'm honest uh at this point and I even say
the newer board's members with Albian Rury um you know if this is kind of making things clearer or if you're feeling like it's more impenetrable uh of a process because we don't want the latter. We want it to be that this is just making the complexity of you
know what we're even trying to do a little bit more clear so we have a draft that we can start to edit. I think it's a great place to start. I'm curious where we stand as far as uh our social reach. How does where do we stand as far
as um on social media and in digital spaces? Do we have a digital space where we can speak to the community directly or build community around that? >> Sure. That's a great question. >> That is a great question >> and we haven't talked about that. So we do have a cityissued website that I I
have full control over um well within the framework of the city but I can I can put any type of things um on that page. We can have subpages that have information on them. Right now uh there is a page that has like links to all of our meetings and the videos from those
meetings as well as the agendas and things like that. There's a page that has some reporting, annual reports um and some monthly reports which is is not up to date and that's a whole another conversation. But, uh, there's also a lot that can go into that, right? That updating a website is is really about
two factors. It's about what needs to go on there and then how to keep it updated and the work that goes into making sure a website is updated. It's a challenge. It's a challenge, you know, as an individual in the office. But that's something we do have access to. Now, flip over to the social media side. Uh,
the the majority of the departments in the city do not have their own social media feeds. Some do, like the police. Um, so usually the larger departments have their own and they also usually have staff members that are dedicated to that communications side of the equation, but the city has a communications department. In fact, one
of them is here tonight and helps us every every uh month when we have our meetings, so we appreciate them greatly. Um, but we can always do things like press releases. Um, they can post things to to their social platforms that are the citywide platforms. So there are ways to do that. Uh, but our core hub
that we have the most control over is our website. And one of the things I wanted to mention, another thing in your in your packet there, this kind of went along and it's I've been updating it and trying to please I I've not set on this, so please give me any feedback if you don't like it. But the goal was to create a single one sheet that kind of
has all of our information in one place. It has the contact information. It also has two QR codes. one at the top that takes you to our website and there's one at the bottom that takes you to a survey that just asks that simple question. What's your experience with policing in the city of Charlottesville? It just
asks a few other optional demographic questions. Don't it's completely anonymous. But we were trying to work on this as an easy way to say to people, here's who we are, here's how to reach out to us, here's what we're doing, our process. It's it's put in a very simple phrasing right here. And then at the
bottom it just talks about hey we want to connect with you when whatever possible ways are uh of interest or convenient to you >> and just tries to offer all that information in one place. So one of the things that the website is useful for is putting information on to get people to
direct them to that place and that way whatever we want to put there they can access it easily and quickly. Um it's just a single hub for us. So I know that was a long answer but it kind of gives the full sk scope of where we stand. Is there any mechanism we have that's actually interactive
where maybe we can ask a question to the community and get their responses or maybe um we could talk about an event or invite more people? >> No, that's a great question. I I think the intention would be when we begin to really do outreach and meeting with
community groups, individuals, >> civic associations that you know, we go in with this, we go in with give us the experience because before you and and Miss Reeves joined, I I made it a priority at our beginning of
the year for the board to really engage with the community, solicit input from the community. We we want to assume nothing about what the community wants or needs from us. We need to we need to go out there and pound the pavement and and ask people for for that information.
And now that we're at a full capacity, I feel like one of the things if we uh begin to schedule work sessions, I have two priorities for that. One would be to uh in one of the work sessions to sit down and really uh put some meat on the bones with regard to community outreach.
Who, how, where, when, all of that. It's not it's not really conducive to doing it here. We just it's just not the format, you know. This is more we present, we interact with the public in this one. The other is and James is going to talk about it is we really need to come up with the um with the
revisions that we're going to be asking council to make to our ordinance that untie our hands. Okay? Because we our hands have been tied. So, so those two things are priorities for work sessions. And I want to before we end tonight talk about u moving forward on getting those
starting to getting those work sessions scheduled. This this is a working board or more that's my intention that it be more of a working board than perhaps it has been in the past. >> Yep. Sure. >> Yes.
>> I'll be the first to admit that I'm old school on this. So I think if you've Oh, if I'll be the first to admit that I'm old school on this, but I think that if you go through computer or a survey, it's different from having a conversation. >> Oh, yeah.
>> And why couldn't we just have a conversation with the neighborhood associate? >> Oh, that's exactly what we're talking about. >> And then so we want to make sure we represent them accurately. >> Yep. >> So we record or we write down even with pencil and paper. people still use those
and then ask them if this is right. >> Yeah. >> Is this what you is this what you want us to present? >> No, you're absolutely right. I I couldn't agree more. And and we have now a database of all the neighborhood associations and other organizations
with whom we want to interact or >> you just said I couldn't agree more. I it would be less. >> Okay. I I think if you think about it that hits some demographics very well and some demographics not so well. Um
>> was just talking about social media. I if you think about who's interacting with the police most frequently is presumably I don't know I'm not school on this but presumably the younger younger people >> who are much more likely to be willing to engage on online platforms and social
media. I personally despise social media, so I'm not the expert to talk about this, but um >> yeah, >> not in an influencer kind of way, but get their news from here now. >> Yeah. And people want to talk. >> People want to talk. They want to to to have dialogue and
>> but that's the kind of discussion and that input because that's useful >> that I want us to have in a work session, you know, where we come together and bring all these different perspectives and then come up with a a concrete plan for implementation. to Alb's point, to your point, to Kar's
point, social media and everyone else's point, you know, I want but that's how it's going to get done. It's not going to get done through email. It's not going to get done through one meeting a month. It's going to have to be work sessions. >> I think the bigger point here is it has >> Oh,
no. What you're saying must be important. >> I was stopped by a higher power. Um, no. I was going to say I think what's what's really important is that work needs to be done. That's the that's it. So, whatever it comes down to, I mean, it's
it can be in person with paper. It could be in person with a laptop, with a with a, you know, mic and recording. It can be on a cell phone. It can be uh, you know, on social media through surveys. I think we we need to if we're going to really capture people's experiences,
their viewpoints uh from a diverse group of of people in our community, then we have to we have to do that in a diverse number of ways. And so I part to add on to the the call for a working session. I would even make another call for uh
smaller groups that uh might even tackle the social media aspect or reach out to youth or might be really focused on how do we actually have conversations with people or whatever it is. >> Can I say one thing? You listen to everything you all saying.
Main thing is that you got to earn these folks trust. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> We got to get these folks trust back. That's the main that's number one that we got to work on. And that's going to take getting out in the community and all all these different things coming up
this summer that we like we used to do set up and and pass out swag or whatever else we got to do to talk to people. But I'm telling you, >> God is my witness. You going to have to earn these folks trust back in the city of Charlottesville
>> because number one, you go to talk to these people, they thinking you the police. >> Yeah. >> And that's the part that the police department got to deal with to try to earn these folks trust back. >> So you see this on your on your chest
and they say, "Okay, the police they got something to do with the police." You got to let them realize we're not the police. We're here to help you. This is to help you. And we got to get that out there. >> Yep. >> I don't care what you do, how you do it, or whatever. But and you got to and you
got to earn these folks trust. >> Yeah. >> That's the That's the main I I hear what the chief say. I see what they do. You got to earn these folk. I'm going tell you from experience. 31 years in law enforcement. When I walk the beat, I
learned to earn these people trust. If once they learned your trust, you you can get anything out of them. they more than happy to talk to you. They'll talk to you before they talk to someone else. >> And in in that job, you you got to be a doctor, lawyer, judge, police officer,
and everything else. >> So, that's the main thing. Just remember, we got to >> get these folks trust. >> That's the main thing. >> So, I couldn't agree with you more. And the question is how to get how to earn that trust.
>> Well, you know what? That's why you got to get out there. >> At the end of the day, it's about relationships. Get out there, >> connecting with oneonone. All right. >> And I and I do think with these uh different things happening during the summer with these health fairs, uh stuff
happening in the parks uh and all I even say this in at the NAACP, you know, we got to counteract people, you know, that's why I say, "Hey, y'all come talk, >> you know, do this, do that. That's the way you gonna learn these people's trust
and it's coming. I mean, we got a full board here and there. We ain't got no excuse. >> I'm telling you, we ain't got no excuse. We We just need to get out there and we know it's a volunteer thing, but >> hey, you came here, you must like something for the reason you came here. >> That's right. >> Yeah. And I was just going to add on I
mean that I I literally study trust for for a living for my career. So, you know, I I measure that's why the chief was joking with me about about how do you measure it? He doesn't think it's measurable. I do. Um, you know, I again, literally that is what I I do. So, I can
answer that question in a hundred different ways. But I'm not gonna do it here because it's going to take us past eight. Um, but but really I I have so many thoughts and ideas and I think this is exactly what we could be talking about in these work sessions. Yeah. >> And we can talk about those again diverse ways of measuring trust.
So before we Yes, Joe. >> I was going to say just glancing at the website, there's an opportunity that's there for contacting the PCOP, but I'm wondering if it would be useful to put something overt on there about
a channel through which they could request the PCOB come to them. >> Oh, I like that. Great idea. >> So, one of and and to speak to that and to speak to everyone um including uh Mr. fave with with the inperson and just
pencil and paper piece. One of the goals of this kind of framework is to say we are not the ones to determine how people want to be communicated with. They're the ones that determine that. >> Yep. >> So if it means we show up at a meeting or a or a coffee shop and have a sitdown
conversation, maybe they don't want to be recorded. Maybe it is a scratch pad and just taking notes. >> Yeah, >> that's that's all great. I think we're gonna have to approach this every possible way that we can. The key piece is how do we go from or not not how, but
we just need to make sure that we go from we know who's talking to who and in a sense of we're not losing track and just doing it randomly. Because our goal is to reach all of the community, not just certain pockets that are easy for us to reach. And then how do we then get it all the way back to here's what I
brought out of it and I'm bringing it back to this group or to this work session. here's what I learned and how does that match up with what you're learning from this group or you're learning from this individual or you're learning from this business. How do we bring all that back together? That's the that's the hard piece of it. The easy piece I think or the maybe the most
enjoyable piece is actually sitting down and having the conversation and the relationship. So, I don't think there's any right way to do it. I think there's every way is a right way. Every way is a right way. Um, >> and so I do want at at the end here for us to maybe have that final conversation about trying to how we might want to set
up a work session. >> Yeah. >> Um, but before that, >> was there anyone else that just wanted to comment on this before I talk about the ordinance component? >> Talk about that piece of then we'll talk about this session. So, I have I have a
a kind of an update and this is new for some of our newer members, but this goes back to the history of the board. Um, there's been a lot of change as the board has gone throughout the years in the in the ordinance and the original legislation. The state changed some of
their legislation which then affected the ordinance here. Uh, the police started with collective bargaining which affected the Well, >> there's been a lot of change. Part of the people that we've talked to and and try to have communication with are some of those original founders of
this entity. Um they have important voices in the community and important perspectives. But as we go forward, the ordinance does need modifications. There are areas that have barriers and limitations and conflicts and disagreements between other policies and
laws and things like that. So back in September, we had an initial meeting with city council where the board and city council met together and we did kind of an initial rundown of some cleanup in the ordinance. It was highle stuff. Fix this, move this around here, cut that, add this, just simple things.
The city council has expressed a lot of interest in having another one of those sessions with the board as a whole discussing some of the more the meat and some of the more details in the ordinance. So, these are things related to how what does it look like for um the board to interact with complaints and
review or investigation of complaints. Right now, the ordinance says that this board can investigate, but there's a lot of reasons why it cannot. Um there's other aspects in there related to how the board recommends discipline about an officer. There's a lot of implications for that. There's components related to
hearings and how this board does policy review uh as well as just all manner of things related to the police department. The original ordinance just gave this broad spectrum with not a lot of detail on how any of it was going to get accomplished. What we need to attempt to
do is limit that scope down but make it more robust and more clear and more meaningful. And so that's work that um you know I've been doing even before um the former supervisor Anz Gonzalez was here. She did a lot of work on that as well. Um the former boards have done a
lot of work on that. We have done a lot of work together on that. But now it's time to kind of bring it to the full board and actually put some of these ideas in writing in front of city council in front of all of you so that some decisions can be made about here's what we envision the board doing and you
know completing and reporting out on to the community to the city council to the city manager to the chief of police. That's where we need to get to. What is the board accomplish and how does it then share it with the community and with all those stakeholders. Uh and so that's another critical piece of a work
session because uh I spoke to the city manager uh and th this week and we're trying to move that process forward sooner rather than later. So we're talking about an April time frame to meet with city council and that is a great opportunity to have a direct voice with them. There's a couple components
of just understanding that ordinance and understanding some of the challenges and and areas that need adjustment. Um, and it's my goal to be able to support you in that and and to talk through some of those changes. I have a lot of different formats of documents of all everything from red lines, which are really
complicated looking to just presentations that just briefly summarize the areas that we need to focus on. I'm trying to kind of consolidate that into a very clear picture of here's the areas we need to look at in the ordinance and here's what we need to think about changing. To Mr. Dillard's point, this board is welcome
to suggest a change to its name if it wanted to so that police is not the first word. >> That's an interesting point. >> That's an example of something that really could be considered. Another thing that um is it like a related item is the purpose of the board is very basic in our current ordinance and it's
it's a little unclear about what the purpose really is. It uses the word trust, but it uses it in a strange kind of way that focuses more on the city rather than the community. that might be something we want to alter too. >> Sort of reexamine the language, >> right? And so there there's a lot to do
there. Uh but it it takes time outside of this meeting to really do that work. And that's where I spend a lot of my focus in in prepping that for you. So I'll stop there and just say you can close up with trying to figure out where we want to go. >> I had said to Dr. Dobson, Mr. Walker in
our meeting this morning that um you know, we're not we're not going to get too many bites of the apple with council. And so I don't I want to make sure that we go in there with a a targeted message to them about these are the changes that we think uh are
necessary. This is why we think they're necessary. We we ask for you to implement them. They know that in seven and a half years we've not held a single hearing. The optics of that are terrible and and this we need to clean up this
ordinance so we can do the work that the community expects us to do. So we need to go into council with a clear agenda for what needs to change. That can only happen if we sit down for two or three hours together and hash it out with the work that some of us, especially Mr.
Walker have already done trying to uh deal with the inconsistencies and the non-starters in that ordinance because it's full of holes. Um so what I want want to suggest or what I want want to ask the board to do or ask Mr. Walker to do is send an email to the board asking
you to uh give your optimal days and times could be afternoons if you're working could be evenings. It could be weekends whenever you can do it. and then we'll work from that to try to get something scheduled uh sooner than
later. And I know it's it's it's it's a big ask because we're all busy, but we're here to get this done. We cannot get it done in these meetings. It's not realistic. The time constraints, the other things we have to accomplish in our monthly meetings. We need to begin
having regular work sessions. That hasn't happened with this board. I want I want to change it so that it begins to be a part of what we do and and get a buy in from everybody to to participate in these work sessions. >> Can't agree on more. >> Hats off to to to Mr. Lee for for for
bringing this to our attention this week and and and saying why aren't we doing this and and and responses where we're going to start. So, if you would tell the board, uh, >> sure, >> tomorrow, Monday, please respond ASAP,
letting him know what, you know, what's absolutely off the table for you. What's a maybe what's a for sure >> we might start with a process of elimination before we >> But, you know, I I'm I'm eager to do whatever time work for whatever groups on this board. I've always offered if
you want to just meet one-on-one, you know, I will make it work. Um, >> and if we want to in that first work session, you know, form some uh committees to do different pieces of this, I'm I'm wide open. I mean, I have no no agenda except work sessions to
accomplish the goals of uh how we going to uh uh operationalize our outreach and how are we going to clean up this ordinance? That those are my priorities for 2026. And if we get that done, we'll have gotten more done than this board has in years.
>> That's true. That's thoughts. >> We're gonna do it. >> Thank you, George. >> We gonna do it. >> Yes, sir. >> I I I got a feeling that things are going to make be some changes here. >> Yeah. >> In this new >> new year. I I'm just feeling more
better with seeing all this all these people on this board right now. I mean, I've been here a long time and it's like, >> is we all going to get in the point that we going to start doing some things? And with James, you two think we going that we gonna be okay. And
>> and I'll say again, and I've said this before, the new folks were here tonight, and I'm feeling even more strong with our two newest members. I'm more excited and more enthusiastic about this board. I've been on this board almost six years, and and we've we've spun a lot of
wheels. We've trend a lot of water. This is the most uh excited I've been about PCO in my tenure. And I've got till the end of 27 when I turn limit out. But I want to make sure we get stuff done before then. That's my uh that's my ask
of you. >> I'll just uh finish with one final statement on that note is that um it is the goal for March to spend a good chunk of that meeting doing a case review. >> Yeah. >> So, um I'm going to be working to meet
with the city attorney and talk about close session and and what that looks like. can also this this one's going to be more for practice for all of us myself collecting and presenting the material in a way that is and then absolutely give me feedback on if it doesn't work you know if it we need it some way different and for the board to
get a sense of what that would look like and how we can what things we can take out of a closed session and make them public because that we are getting into a more legal and policy realm but it's critical in that scope if this board is going to actually review cases look at body cam footage things like that we
have to get that practice done um so that when when there are higher level incidents that come up uh the one that I have that's prepared is one that came through the PCOB but it is it's it's going to be an easier one. It's it's definitely a a complex one but it's an
easier one to understand the outcome of um >> but also James kind of package that case we can't look at 20 hours of >> Right. Exactly. What I've asked James to do is is create a format whereby we have uh the the most
relevant body cam footage, the most relevant facts so that it's it's manageable for us. We can't look at every document and every minute of I mean it's just not really >> case files are pretty thick. >> So that's the goal. >> So this is an opportunity for us to
fine-tune this process because again we're going to be doing more of that once we get the ordinance cleaned up. we can really begin with the case. >> Excited. >> All right. So, we have one more public comment. Uh, anyone Kate, please?
>> Yeah. >> So, what a meeting you've had. >> Good. Um, my name is Kate Fray. I've been following uh police oversight for more than nine years here. Um, so I I
have a lot to say, but uh I only have three minutes. Um so I'll just talk about a few things and then I may send you all uh some information. So about measurements um the one of the reasons that the PCOB started in the first place
was the disproportionate minority contact reports from years ago. one for juveniles and one for adults that showed real disparities, not just disproportionality, but disparities in the treatment of African-Americans
in the city. and they wanted uh in in relation to arrests uh charges, jail time, those that data, some of it is still being done by Matt Vitali from
OAR and he recently did a new one on the statistics in jail. He doesn't do the police, but he does charges and and jail time. Anyway, it's new and it shows
disproportionality. So, one of the problems I think with the police department has always been some sort of bias and there's all kinds of uh research about all the things that don't
work to fix it. So, uh, accountability is probably the major thing to fix it. Um, about ICE, so I was very interested to hear the chief say that the police will intervene
if somebody if an ICE agent is masked and doesn't have a badge, I think he listed three things, and is doing something illegal. And at the same time, he said he can't interfere. So I have seen two videos of
police officers in localities arresting ICE officers, arresting them. So they the police department can. So my suggestion to you is that you need to help the police department write a policy on when a
police officer can arrest an ICE agent. What actions, what verbiage, what whatever. And I have asked I have Huh. >> Great idea. >> Do I only have 26 seconds left? >> Nope. >> Oh gosh. So, okay. So, there's a cure
violence model that does the um the surround an event. Um I don't think the police do it, but um and in town there's the the Central Virginia Violence Interruptors, CBBI, that is working in
Greenstone neighborhood. they don't have enough money. Um, and so they would like some more money and so when the police budget goes up, their budget should go up too. >> Okay, great. >> I'll send stuff to you. >> Absolutely. Anything? Um, Miss Freley
sends us a lot of great information that is very helpful and useful resources. So, I will absolutely forward that along if you send it to me directly. >> I did a an orientation manual once for the PCOB board. Remember that? You have a copy of me. So, I ha uh I think I can
figure out the first couple pages of it have the whole history of how the BCOB um came to be. >> Yes, that was some of the stuff that you and I were looking at that one day. Yes, >> I do have all that in my office. Um I have a lot of the history of this board
in the office as well and a lot of your original intent and opinions and thoughts. >> Yeah. >> So, thank you so much. >> Sure. Thank you. I'm encouraged. That's >> like you're going places. >> Yeah. >> Your friends,
do we have anybody? >> Yeah. >> Don't try to start filling this when we have you. Do we have anybody online with a question? >> Oh, can I make another suggestion? >> No. Let me go back.
>> So online, I've listened sometimes online and it's hard to hear some of you. >> Yeah. So you and you it's very hard to hear you >> the best way calling us out. >> Yeah. Um >> the mics are >> we can hear you George.
>> All right. Um >> good feedback. >> If there is no other business, I will entertain a motion to adjourn. I'll second. Did someone make a motion? >> All in favor say I. >> I.
>> Thank you much everyone. open Friday and we will be in touch about a work session. Sorry. Yeah.