PCOB director to review first case
In July, Charlottesville’s Police Civilian Oversight Board was scheduled to hold its long-awaited first hearing concerning the 2020 violent arrest of a man experiencing homelessness, but on the day of the hearing, complainant Jeff Fogel, a local attorney, and the Charlottesville Police Department agreed to an alternative dispute resolution after Fogel claimed that board members Jeffrey Fracher and Bellamy Brown were biased against him. Last week, there was another change in plans—PCOB Executive Director Hansel Aguilar will conduct a neutral evaluation of the case.
According to Aguilar in an email to C-VILLE, before Fogel and the CPD could meet with hearing examiner Cecil Creasey for the alternative dispute resolution, “[city attorney Lisa Robertson] expressed concern that: 1) Mr. Creasey’s contract with the Board only allowed him to serve as a hearing examiner and not an ADR facilitator and 2) while the ordinance and interim hearing procedures mention informal resolution, the City Council had not yet passed the operating procedures which specify the process for ADR resolutions.”
“In an attempt to preserve the spirit of the parties’ willingness to resolve this matter informally and to honor Mr. Fogel’s concerns [about] … ‘hostilities’ he has been subjected to by Board members, I proposed utilizing the neutral evaluation option,” added Aguilar. After Fogel and the CPD agreed to the neutral evaluation, the board adopted a resolution allowing Aguilar to review the complaint on August 18.
Fogel filed his complaint against the CPD in July 2020, after a Charlottesville police officer arrested 36-year-old Christopher Gonzalez, who had been lying down on the Downtown Mall. After Gonzalez admitted to drinking alcohol, and said he was homeless, the officer threatened to arrest him for public intoxication unless he left the mall, which Gonzalez refused to do. The officer tried to handcuff him, but he pulled away. The officer then pinned Gonzalez to the ground, and put him in a headlock for nearly a minute, according to a now-deleted Instagram video. Gonzalez was later charged with felony assault of a police officer, and was held without bail for almost three weeks at the local jail. Though Gonzalez’s charges were later dismissed, in September 2020 the CPD exonerated Fogel’s allegations of excessive force and concluded that the allegations of bias-based policing were unfounded.
After reviewing the CPD’s investigative files and meeting privately with the two parties, Aguilar will decide if the department “thoroughly, completely, accurately, objectively, and impartially” investigated Fogel’s claims that the unnamed officer assaulted, kicked, and used a chokehold on Gonzalez, as well as Fogel’s concern over the appropriateness of Gonzalez’s arrest and felony charge.
Fogel believes the case is an example of the unjust criminalization of people experiencing homelessness and poverty, particularly on the Downtown Mall. “The officer told him, ‘If you leave the mall, I won’t arrest you.’ … If we had the same rules for the mall as we have for the rest of the town, he wouldn’t have been arrested,” says Fogel. The attorney hopes Aguilar’s decision will clarify the CPD’s policy regarding intoxication on the Downtown Mall, as well as highlight the need for a downtown center where people can sober up—and not get arrested or jailed. Additionally, Fogel wants to prevent CPD officers from filing felony charges against residents “just because [the police are] angry.”
Aguilar will issue his decision by September 28. The CPD will have 10 days to respond to the report, then Fogel will have 10 days to follow up. The report and responses will be posted on the PCOB website.
In brief
Pipeline deadline extended
Federal regulators have given the developers behind the Mountain Valley Pipeline four more years to complete the controversial 303-mile project, which would carry natural gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia. The pipeline, initially set to be completed in 2018, now must be finished by October 13, 2026. Since the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the $6.6 billion project in 2017, activists concerned about the pipeline’s environmental impacts and legal violations have fought the project in court, causing construction delays. The developers hope to have the pipeline completed by next year, but must first secure three federal permits that have been repeatedly denied, according to The Roanoke Times.
Up in the air
The State Corporation Commission is reconsidering forcing Dominion Energy to include a ratepayer protection in its plans to build a wind farm off the coast of Virginia Beach, after the utility company filed a petition last week claiming the protection would cause financial losses and force it to scrap the $9.8 billion project, reports the Associated Press. The commission’s August 5 order approving the 176-turbine wind farm—now temporarily suspended—contained a performance guarantee, which would prevent Dominion from charging customers for replacement energy “if the Project does not generate the amount of electricity upon which Dominion bases its request.” Anyone who objects to Dominion’s petition must file a response by September 13, then the utility company will have until September 22 to respond to arguments. If the farm moves forward, it is expected to be completed in 2026.