Tag: Charlottesville Police Department

Categories
News

False alarm?: CPD refutes racial profiling claims, calls on church leaders to “apologize or be terminated”

Leaders at the Unitarian Church on Rugby Road accused the police department of racial profiling in October. The police department denies the claim. PC: Staff photo

In October, leaders at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlottesville penned a blog post accusing the Charlottesville Police Department of racial profiling. According to the clergy, CPD unnecessarily detained and intimidated a Black congregant as he was walking to church.

On December 10, Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney held a press conference during which she shared body camera footage, and announced that an internal investigation conducted by her department found no evidence of police misconduct during the October 7 stop.

After sharing the results of the investigation, Brackney demanded that Unitarian church leaders “apologize or be terminated,” calling the church’s claims “baseless and race-baiting.” The press conference drew concern from activists in town, and placed renewed scrutiny on the department’s internal investigations policy.

Profiling incident

In an open letter released October 15, the clergy accused the department of harassing one of their church members, a 63-year-old Black man. According to the church, the man was allegedly surrounded by five police cars after a UVA student called the police on him while he was walking to church. The officers asked him what he was doing in the neighborhood, and demanded his social security number and identification, suspecting him of committing a recent series of break-ins.

The church claimed he looked nothing like the photo of the suspect, but was still interrogated until a white church member came over to investigate the situation. The clergy called on the department to apologize to the man.

After reviewing the 911 call, radio transmissions, and body camera footage, and interviewing the parties involved, CPD’s internal affairs unit concluded that the church’s claims were false, said Brackney last Thursday.

According to audio and visual evidence, the 911 call that sparked the incident was not made by a UVA student, but a teenager. She claimed that a Black man was loitering on private property, and that he had previously broken into a neighbor’s house.

While standing on the sidewalk, the church member flagged down the responding officer because he had seen someone run into the house and assumed the homeowner had called the police. A second officer soon arrived on the scene, and explained he should not cut through private property to get to his church, in light of the recent break-ins.

Body camera footage showed that the church member, who had a tracheostomy and could not speak, was visibly upset. He believed the officers were accusing him of committing the break-ins, which they clarified they were not.

“The thing is, if I lived there, and somebody walks behind my house every day, it would make me nervous too,” said the second officer. “If you’re freaked out, and they’re freaked out, and the common denominator is not to walk through there, then why don’t we do that?”

When the man claimed the police were called because he was Black, the second officer, who is also Black, insisted “it [had] nothing to do with race,” and told the three detectives who arrived on the scene that the man was playing “the race card.” A church member later came over to check on the man, who was never detained or charged with a crime.

Press conference sparks strong feelings

The police department initiated an investigation into the incident after it received the letter from interim lead minister Reverend Dr. Linda Olson Peebles in October, but it wasn’t until a month later, when the letter was shared on Twitter, that the activist community took notice. In late November, the Defund Charlottesville Police Department Campaign and other advocacy groups penned an op-ed in the Cavalier Daily, calling for the firing of the officers involved in the alleged racial profiling incident.

During the press conference, Brackney fired back. The chief listed the names of the church members who signed the open letter, accusing them of leveraging “their privilege and self-serving agendas.” She also called for the activist groups who “co-signed this smear campaign” against CPD to issue apologies.

Shortly before the press conference, Peebles issued a statement to her congregation, expressing the church leadership’s concern over the investigation’s findings. She claimed there were “a number of discrepancies between the testimony of the police and the account of the church member,” but that the church member no longer wanted them to address the situation.

Peebles later said Brackney made “unfair accusations” about the church leadership during the press conference. She claimed the church leadership penned the letter after talking directly with the church member, and had him approve it before sending it to CPD. They also never asked for the officers to resign.

“We are disappointed…as it seems [CPD] has minimized our member’s experience, our concerns, and our right to ask for the police to respond to us without malice,” she stated.

In a statement released December 12, Defund CPD also criticized Brackney for her retaliatory rhetoric during the conference.

“Brackney [attempted] to publicly intimidate those who rightfully questioned and criticized the police,” read the statement. She “intended to discredit the voices and experiences of the Black community…and to silence anyone who might think of filing a complaint against the police in the future.”

Defund CPD demanded Brackney resign immediately for abusing her power, and called on City Council to take action.

Sarah Burke, a member of the city’s initial Police Civilian Review Board, hopes Brackney’s behavior will not deter local residents from filing complaints about police misconduct, which they can also send to the oversight board, with the department.

“When you have a press conference…where the narrative is so spun to be protective of police and critical of anybody who wants to report what they believe to be racial profiling, [that] is part of a bigger pattern of the way people have been silenced historically,” she says. “It begs the question of how impartial the police can be in investigating their own conduct.”

Internal affairs

Usually, the police department publishes the results of its internal investigations on its website, describing the outcome with a single word: sustained, unfounded, exonerated, or not resolved. The department found the church’s racial profiling complaint to be unfounded.

The internal affairs data on the police department’s website was last updated on September 28 of this year, and from January 1 to September 28, the department opened 28 internal investigations. Ten were sustained, meaning the officer “acted in violation of applicable procedures.”

The results of the department’s internal accountability procedures don’t always align with outside sources’ assessments of the incidents.

After officer Jeffrey Jaeger, who is white, slammed a Black man’s head into a fence while responding to a verbal dispute in March, he filed a use-of-force report and was cleared by the department. But when body camera footage from the incident was shown during a trial in July, a complaint was filed with CPD concerning potential criminal wrongdoing. Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania reviewed the case and ordered a full-scale investigation, charging Jaeger with misdemeanor assault and battery.

On December 11, Jaeger was found guilty, and handed a 12-month suspended sentence and two years of unsupervised probation, meaning he will not spend time in jail. He appealed his conviction to the Charlottesville Circuit Court, and currently is on administrative leave without pay. As things stand now, the police department’s examination of the incident cleared an officer who was later convicted by a court of law.

In its internal affairs data, the department does not explain the reason for each case ruling, or disclose which disciplinary measures were taken against the officers found guilty of violating department policy, or the law.

The “opacity” of internal affairs investigations has long been a concern for many community members and activists, says Maisie Osteen, a civil rights attorney for the Legal Aid Justice Center.

“In so many cases, the problem [is] the process being so impermeable to citizens being a part of it and understanding it. The public only knows what the police want us to know,” she says, “What comes out of the investigation is a curated lens from the police department—good or bad.”

Osteen has also seen many people hesitate to file police complaints because they are afraid they won’t get taken seriously, nothing will be done, or they’ll face retribution.

“What’s going on right now is showing how necessary it is to create a robust police civilian oversight board,” she says. “[It] adds legitimacy and accountability to both the peoples’ understanding of what’s going on, and the police internal investigations.”

Community activist Walt Heinecke also feels that the internal investigations process has been “pretty tightly held,” especially given the limited advisory role currently afforded to the Civilian Review Board.

Heinecke ultimately hopes that the church member who filed the complaint will appeal it so it can be reviewed by the CRB. (The board will be allowed to independently receive and investigate complaints with subpoena power when new state criminal justice reforms go into effect next year.)

“There may be another version of the story that is possible from a larger review by the [CRB], if asked to review the case, of evidence beyond the edited version presented,” says Heinecke. “If that does not happen, the mistrust of the police by some in the community may be exacerbated.”

Categories
News

In brief: Sheffield resigns, Fellini’s closes, and more

Brad Sheffield PC: Amy and Jackson Smith

In brief

Fellini’s closing

Yet another Charlottesville business has been shuttered by the coronavirus. Last week, the owners of downtown Italian restaurant and music venue Fellini’s announced that December 19 would be the spot’s final day. “We literally tried EVERYTHING,” reads a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page. The owners report that they asked the city to use the sidewalks for outdoor dining, but were not allowed to do so.

Turnover continues

The list of high-profile departures from Charlottesville this year just keeps getting longer. After six years as CEO of Jaunt, Brad Sheffield resigned last week, wanting to take the “next steps” in his career, reports The Daily Progress. Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney is also eyeing a new job—last week, she was selected as one of seven finalists for police chief of Dallas. The new chief is expected to be selected by January 1.

Cut the check

For months, thousands of Virginians have been waiting to receive their badly needed unemployment benefits. After the Legal Aid Justice Center, Virginia Poverty Law Center, and other legal partners threatened the Virginia Employment Commission with a class action lawsuit last month, nearly 80,000 people are now receiving payments while their claims continue to be reviewed.

_________________

Quote of the week

“With this remarkable medical achievement, we are beginning
to see the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.”

—Governor Ralph Northam, as vaccine distribution begins

Categories
News

In brief: Police problems, school sickness, and more

UVA Chief of Police Tim Longo came under fire recently for UPD’s treatment of a Black man on the Corner. PC: Eric Kelley

Under fire

Shortly before midnight on November 15, a houseless Black man named Lawrence was reportedly violently detained by both Charlottesville and University police on the Corner.

According to eyewitness accounts given to Defund Cville Police, three UPD officers pushed Lawrence into the brick wall in front of Cohn’s. A dozen more officers soon arrived on the scene, and slammed him to the ground. Four pinned him down with their knees, digging into his back and ribs.

While witnesses and Lawrence’s wife asked multiple times why the officers were detaining him, they reportedly did not provide a clear answer. One officer accused Lawrence of trespassing on UVA Grounds, while another said they needed to question him and resolve a dispute with his wife.

The officers then pressed down onto Lawrence’s neck, claiming he was biting them, though witnesses say he was not. They allegedly did not let him go until another officer arrived and deescalated the situation.

Lawrence was then allowed to sit up and answer questions, which were not related to the incident, claim witnesses.

Because of the extent of injuries, Lawrence reportedly could barely walk or stand. When he was taken to the hospital, it was revealed he had three broken ribs, and multiple cuts and abrasions on his arms, wrists, side, and feet.

After Defund Cville Police’s account of the incident sparked outcry on social media last week, UVA’s Chief of Police Tim Longo released a statement about the “difficult encounter,” failing to mention Lawrence’s extensive injuries, or the large number of officers reportedly on the scene.

According to Longo, a UPD officer witnessed a verbal altercation between Lawrence and a woman outside a store on the Corner. He approached the couple and asked for identification. While the woman provided it, Lawrence refused, and walked away, crossing University Avenue onto UVA Grounds.

Another officer soon arrived on the scene, and recognized Lawrence from a previous incident at UVA hospital, during which Lawrence “became disorderly” and was banned from coming back onto UVA Grounds.

The officers followed Lawrence, told him he was trespassing, and tried to detain him. Lawrence went back to the Corner, which is off UVA Grounds, and attempted to leave the scene. The two officers then pursued and restrained him “for further investigation,” resulting in “several minutes” of “active resistance and struggle,” Longo writes.

A UPD supervising officer later deescalated the situation, ordering that Lawrence be allowed to sit up for questioning and evaluated by medical responders before allowing him to leave the Corner.

“Upon review of the incident, the Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney has determined that none of the officers acted unlawfully,” stated Longo, who has now begun an internal UPD review into the incident.

One officer has been placed on administrative leave. Defund Cville Police demands every officer involved in the incident be fired immediately, and calls on the community to support Lawrence as he recovers from his injuries.

_________________

Quote of the week

“Enough is enough. When do we start fixing it and stop covering up things?”

—South First Street resident Angela Barnes advocating for installing security cameras during a CRHA meeting last week, following a recent murder in the public housing community

__________________

In brief

Get registered

Jackson P. Burley School, Charlottesville’s Black high school during the age of segregation, was added to the National Register of Historic Places last week. Burley opened in 1951, “part of an effort [by] many jurisdictions in Virginia to support segregation by constructing new and well-equipped separate but equal high schools for African American students,” reads the NRHP listing. The school was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register in September.

                                 Jackson P. Burley School PC: Skyclad Aerial

Cool your jets

Just after Thanksgiving, UVA’s football team flew down to Tallahassee, ready to take on the 2-6 Florida State Seminoles. But upon arrival, the team was told the game had been postponed due to uncontained coronavirus among FSU’s players. It’s the third time this season the Cavaliers have had an opponent cancel on them due to COVID.

School outbreak

Five students at Woodbrook Elementary School tested positive for coronavirus last week, and are currently quarantined at home. The students and staff who attended classes with the students were also asked to self-isolate for 10 days. On November 9, Albemarle County moved to Stage 3 of reopening, welcoming about 2,700 students—mostly pre-kindergarteners through third graders—into schools for hybrid learning.

Supply chain training

Virginia is running its first round of vaccine distribution tests, reports the Virginia Mercury. The state Department of Health is overseeing 50 sites around the commonwealth as they practice transporting COVID-19 vaccines, in hopes of being prepared when the first shipments of real vaccines begin to arrive later this month.

Categories
News

Real power: New state law drastically expands CRB’s role

Protesters gather in front of City Hall to demand more power for the Police Civilian Review Board. PC: Zack Wajsgras

For more than a year, the Charlottesville Police Civilian Review Board and Charlottesville City Council have been locked in a dispute over how much power the recently established law enforcement oversight board should have. But clarity is coming soon, thanks to new legislation from the Virginia General Assembly.

Over the course of nearly 12 weeks this fall, Virginia lawmakers passed a string of criminal justice reforms, sparked by the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. The assembly’s new Democratic majority brought a variety of progressive changes to policing in Virginia—including allowing for civilian review boards with real power, a common request from activists seeking reform nationwide. The changes will take effect July 1, 2021, giving lawmakers time to expand the bill to include sheriff’s departments.

“We can pass as many laws as we want governing law enforcement behavior, but this is the one that ensures that there is meaningful oversight and accountability if things do miss the mark,” Delegate Sally Hudson told the CRB during its November 12 virtual meeting.

In June, the CRB voted to expand its own powers, adopting a set of bylaws that were drawn up by an initial panel of activists and experts last year. At that point, City Council delayed approving the decision until the legislative session had concluded.

In stark contrast to the CRB’s current limited advisory role, the new reforms will allow the board to receive and investigate complaints involving police officers or department employees, with the power to subpoena documents and witnesses. If the accused party is found guilty, the board can issue a binding disciplinary ruling for cases “that involve serious breaches of departmental and professional standards,” including demotion, suspension without pay, or termination.

Outside of these duties, the CRB will be able to review all of CPD’s internal affairs investigations and issue its own findings on each ruling. It will also have the power to request reports on the department’s annual expenditures and suggest changes—answering local activists’ recent calls for transparency on CPD’s whopping $18 million budget.

Under the new law, the CRB will evaluate CPD’s practices, policies, and procedures, and recommend improvements. If the department does not implement the changes, the board can require it to issue a public written statement explaining its reasoning.

The CRB’s Vice Chair Will Mendez later expressed frustration over the stipulations put on the board’s law enforcement representative, a position currently held by Phillip Seay. He is able to provide guidance but not vote on decisions, under both the board’s current ordinance and the new state legislation.

“The community didn’t want law enforcement members to vote, because there’s always been a problem with police getting off,” responded Legal Aid Justice Center organizer Harold Folley during public comment. ”We felt like it would be the same way with the [CRB], where the police officer would have bias. …It’s unfortunate that y’all are pushing that.”

As the CRB waits for the bill to take effect, members will use the powerful provisions to revise the board’s existing ordinance and bylaws, which must be approved by City Council. With the bill’s enactment date just seven months away, CRB members agreed to meet twice a month.

“The worrisome part of it for me is having the support of City Council,” said member Dorenda Johnson. “Even with what has been passed, I am just truly hoping that they will be able to and are willing to help us the way that they should.”

Categories
News

In brief: New COVID regulations, legal weed, and more

Daily new cases in Charlottesville and Albemarle PC: Data courtesy TJHD

Tighten it up

On Sunday, with COVID-19 cases surging across the United States, Governor Ralph Northam announced a new set of stricter regulations for citizens and businesses in Virginia. The rules, which went into effect at midnight on November 15, limit gatherings to 25 individuals, instead of the previous 250. Restaurants are now required to end alcohol sales by 10pm and close by midnight. Masks are mandated for any person over the age of 5, in contrast to the previous mandate, which only included those 10 years of age and up. There are large exceptions, however: The new restrictions do not apply to schools, churches, offices, gyms, businesses, or sporting events.

On November 12, the day before Northam’s announcement, the CDC reported 194,610 new cases in the U.S., the record for a single day. Virginia is doing better than many states, yet has still seen a 24.3 percent rise in its weekly average cases compared to last month. The Thomas Jefferson Health District, which encompasses the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, continues to see relatively stable numbers of total cases, though officials have warned that things could get worse quickly as the holiday season sets in.

With less than two weeks until Thanksgiving, Northam describes these restrictions as preventative. “COVID-19 is surging across the country, and while cases are not rising in Virginia as rapidly as in some other states, I do not intend to wait until they are,” he said in a video released on Sunday. “We are acting now to prevent this health crisis from getting worse.”—Caroline Challe

Early to bed

Monday night’s City Council meeting adjourned just after 9:30pm, a mercifully early finish. This year, council meetings, which begin at 6:30 pm, have regularly run into the wee hours of the morning. As councilors and observers have noted, holding important discussions late in the evening makes public participation difficult for working people, and also puts a strain on the city’s staff.

This week’s early adjournment comes in part thanks to a scheduling tweak made by council, which will now listen to reports by city staff—like Monday’s report on the city’s fiscal year 2021 budget—in the afternoon, rather than during the evening meetings.

_________________

Quote of the week

“You get one person who’s asymptomatic and infected, and then all of a sudden, four or five people in that gathering are infected…You don’t want to be the Grinch that stole the holidays.”

—Dr. Anthony Fauci, on the importance of safe Thanksgiving plans

__________________

In brief

Union recruitment

With UVA Health System experiencing severe staffing and management issues, United Campus Workers at UVA is currently surveying and recruiting hospital employees. The union urges them to regularly check their work email for a confidential survey on their working conditions and concerns, as well as their right to join the union, which is protected under federal and state law.

Police problems

An October blog post from the Rugby Avenue Unitarian Universalist church circulated this week, describing yet another example of troubling behavior from the Charlottesville Police Department. Per the blog post, a Black male church member was walking down the sidewalk, on his way to help clean the playground, when a UVA student called the cops. Five police cars flocked to the scene and accosted the church member for questioning before letting him proceed. An internal investigation is ongoing, and will conclude in around two weeks, says CPD spokesman Tyler Hawn.

High priorities

Governor Northam announced on Monday that he will support legislation to fully legalize marijuana in the next year’s General Assembly session. Last year, the assembly decriminalized the drug, making possession punishable with a fine rather than a misdemeanor. Should the Old Dominion move forward with Northam’s plan, Virginia would become the 16th state, and the first state in the South, to make the drug fully legal.

Cash help

With remaining CARES Act funds, the city will offer some financial assistance to the 228 temporary employees it stopped paying last month. Those with a household income below 50 percent of the area median income can receive up to $750, while those below 30 percent can get up to $1,000. Interested employees must contact the Department of Human Services.

Categories
News

In brief: Keeping the pressure, breaking the law, and more

Activists call for defunding the police at a rally outside the police station in June. PC: Eze Amos

Defunders keep fighting

“Does abolition really mean ending the police? Yes.”

So said community organizer Ang Conn, as she spearheaded last Wednesday’s Zoom conversation on policing, hosted by Defund Cville Police. Over 80 community members joined in on the call.

The group hopes to keep the pressure on as the summer of protests moves into autumn. Though Charlottesville City Council has proposed a mental health crisis response task force, it has yet to take any action toward reducing CPD’s budget.

Defund Cville Police wants City Council to cut the police budget by 60 percent and invest those funds in housing, education, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and other low-barrier community services.

The group has also called for a freeze on police hiring, and the creation of a community crisis hotline, which would dispatch responders trained in de-escalation, trauma-informed care, and transformative and restorative justice.

According to Conn, defunding will help the community work toward police abolition. “We’ll take that budget yearly until it’s zero,” she said.

Several other activists—including UVA students—joined Conn in leading a presentation on policing, starting with its racist origins. While slave patrols surveilled and captured enslaved Black people in the South, police forces emerged to maintain race and class hierarchy in the North.

The activists discussed how Black and brown communities—along with other marginalized groups, like organized labor and houseless people—have been systemically harmed by law enforcement at every level.

UVA student Donavon Lea described police reforms, like body cameras and additional training, as a “band-aid for a bigger issue”—they only feed more money into the prison industrial complex, and away from communities.

“Society has the idea of hiding folks away in prisons…when we have the ability and resources to address these issues in society,” added Conn.

Pumping funding into police departments has not helped victims, particularly those of sexual and interpersonal violence, the activists emphasized. About 99 percent of sexual assault perpetrators walk free, while more than 90 percent of domestic violence cases reported to the police do not result in jail time, and may cause more problems for the victim.

The activists will continue to pressure the city, but in the meantime, Conn encouraged all the event attendees to get involved in mutual aid and support, which she said will help to build a police-free community.

_________________

Quote of the week

“The majority of the rallies, demonstrations, and marches here are primarily people [who] don’t look very diverse.”

—Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney, implying that this year’s Black Lives Matter protests have included too many white people

__________________

In brief

Bar none

A quick drive around the Corner on a weekend night reveals that some UVA students are partying on, undeterred by the virus or the school’s 10-person limit on gatherings. Lines to get into bars often wrap around the block. Under Virginia’s Phase 3 guidelines, restaurants are allowed to open for indoor dining but “bar seats and congregating areas of restaurants must be closed to patrons except for through-traffic.”

Shelter skelter

Last year, Hinton Avenue Methodist Church was shocked to find that a group of Belmont residents opposed the church’s plan to set up Rachel’s Haven, a 15-unit apartment building including several units reserved for those with intellectual disabilities. Now, the group that started a petition against the project is trying to abandon its own cause, scared off by “an outright attack on our group” on social media, reports The Daily Progress.

Safety first

Albemarle teachers—along with parents, students, and other supporters—gathered in front of the Albemarle County Office Building on Fifth Street last week to protest the district’s move to Stage 3, which will put up to 5,000 preschoolers through third graders in the classroom.

Dining out

After months of pandemic losses, Charlottesville restaurants will no longer have to pay the city’s deferred outdoor space rental fee for the months of March and April, and only need to cover half of the fee for the following months, according to an ordinance passed by City Council on Monday. Restaurants seeking to rent more outdoor space will also get a 50 percent discount.

PC: Staff photo
Categories
News

In brief: Remembering John Conover, flicking off UVA, and more

Former city councilor John Conover, pictured here in 2007 with his wife, Virginia Daugherty, passed away on October 4. PC: Eze Amos

A fond farewell

Charlottesville superstar John Conover, 74, passed away over the weekend. Conover arrived in town in 1970 and started a printing press, before serving as a city councilor from 1980 to 1984. He later worked as an attorney with the Legal Aid Justice Center, served on the board of Live Arts, and helped spearhead the creation of the Rivanna Trail.

Conover was a “creative and quirky thinker,” said City Councilor Lloyd Snook at council’s Monday meeting. “I didn’t always agree with him, but I always listened to him…His was a full life, a life of service to the community and the poor.”

Conover’s personality shines through in all of the stories written about him during his time in Charlottesville—in a 2004 interview with The Hook, Conover said his perfect day featured “some competition, some reading, some affection,” and that his proudest accomplishment was “consistency in love and community.”

Court conflict 

For nearly 25 years, the Charlottesville Albemarle Adult Drug Treatment Court has helped local residents struggling with addiction get the treatment they need, rather than punish them with jail time. However, one aspect of the court has been a recent point of contention: Participants must plead guilty to their charges in order to enter the program.

Charlottesville attorney Jeff Fogel has brought up the issue numerous times to City Council, leading Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania and Deputy Public Defender Liz Murtagh to give a presentation on the program during Monday’s meeting.

“With the post-plea docket, there’s an acceptance of responsibility and a desire for intensive treatment very quickly,” said Platania. “That is a component that leads to more success.”

Mayor Nikuyah Walker, who worked directly with clients battling substance abuse while at Region Ten, pushed back on Platania’s definition of responsibility.

“They don’t walk in the door, even after those guilty pleas, saying ‘I’m going to change my life and I’m thankful…’ All the people usually know at that time is that they don’t want to go back into jail, which they know does not serve them well either,” she said.

During public comment, community organizer Ang Conn urged council to think about the many people who did not graduate from the program, and in turn were given a sentence, as it considers future changes.

Since there have been only 400 graduates in the program’s history, “that’s approximately 16 successful cases per year,” said Conn. “That doesn’t seem to be a successful program to me.”

_________________

Quote of the week

“Even if businesses fail, they can start another business…What we cannot do is bring someone back to life if they die.”

—Mayor Nikuyah Walker, on her Facebook post suggesting that indoor dining should be banned

__________________

In brief

Disproportionate contact

For the third year in a row, crime charges dropped in Charlottesville—yet Black residents continue to be disproportionately arrested. According to the Charlottesville Police Department’s new annual report, 52 percent of the people arrested last year were Black, even though only about 18 percent of the city is Black. In 2018, 57 percent of people arrested were Black. Meanwhile, complaints made against the department have resulted in few repercussions: Out of the 50 internal affairs cases conducted last year, only 10 percent were sustained.

Sign up

UVA prez Jim Ryan penned an open letter to the university community this week, expressing his distaste for the controversial “Fuck UVA” sign on a student’s Lawn room door. Ryan didn’t like the profanity and also didn’t appreciate that the sign “fail[s] to acknowledge any of the progress that this University has made.” Though the sign is protected under the First Amendment, Ryan claimed UVA admin would consider “additional regulations” for the Lawn before next school year. Many students have pointed out that, ironically, last week the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education ranked UVA the No. 6 university for “open climates for free speech” in 2020.

Blair with me, here

With Dr. Tarron Richardson’s resignation finalized last week, Charlottesville’s new interim city manager appeared at Monday’s council meeting for the first time—or rather, appeared for the first time as a city manager. John Blair has been the city attorney since 2018, and has been a fixture at City Council meetings, sorting out the council’s procedural questions in a measured, deliberate drawl.

Categories
News

Guns down: City gun control ordinance draws fire

Beginning October 1, guns will be prohibited at government buildings like City Hall, as well as in parks and recreation and community centers, and near permitted events. PC: Skyclad Aerial

In June, the Virginia General Assembly passed a slew of gun control bills, including one that allows cities and counties to prohibit guns on public property. Localities across the state, like Newport News and Alexandria, have since enacted such a ban—and last week, Charlottesville followed suit.

Beginning October 1, guns will be prohibited in parks, buildings, and recreational or community centers owned by the city. They’ll also be banned on public streets or rights-of-way used for—or adjacent to—a permitted event, according to an ordinance unanimously passed by City Council on September 8.

What might have seemed like a straightforward progressive reform has, in fact, stirred controversy.

Anti-racist activist Brad Slocum fears the ordinance will be selectively enforced, pointing to the infamous Unite the Right rally, during which Charlottesville and state police officers stood by as white supremacists attacked counterprotesters.

“There’s ample recent and historical evidence that these kinds of ordinances…are not usually enforced against groups or individuals that are perceived as friendly to the police or the state, [like] militias, white supremacists, and similar types,” says Slocum, who supports defunding the police. “Whereas they do seem historically to be enforced against Black, left-wing, or otherwise non- or anti-establishment groups and individuals, sometimes severely.”

City resident Sean Reid also believes the law will disproportionately impact Black people, citing CPD’s long history of racism and overpolicing. According to Charlottesville Open Data, about 54 percent of people arrested by CPD since 2015 have been Black, even though the city is only about 18 percent Black.

Police officers are also not going to be posted at every city property, leaving many without a way to defend themselves or a sense of safety, says UVA grad student Ben (who asked that we not use his last name).

Though he views gun violence as a “non-issue” in the places where the city has now banned guns, Ben, who is a gun owner, also questions whether the law will be an effective way to prevent it, pointing to shootings that have occurred in places where guns were banned.

(Due to the varying definitions of “mass shooting” and “gun-free zone,” research remains unclear on whether shootings occur at increased rates in gun-free zones.)

Speaking only for herself, City Councilor Sena Magill says she too worries about the “unintended consequences” the ordinance could have, but feels that it is “the right way forward,” specifically because of the violence and trauma surrounding Unite the Right.

“If this ordinance had been in place on August 12, 2017, hundreds of people would not have been able to legally gather on park property and intimidate and threaten my friends and family,” she says. “I [also] don’t want someone to be able to walk into City Hall with a gun on their hip…and be able to intimidate the City Hall staff.”

“We’ve seen extremists exploit lax gun laws to terrorize the public,” adds Mike Fox, legislative lead for the Crozet chapter of gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action. “We saw it with Unite the Right in Charlottesville, earlier this year when armed demonstrators descended upon Richmond, [and] we’ve seen it across the state, where you have armed citizens showing up at government meetings, intimidating lawmakers [and] voters.”

According to spokesman Tyler Hawn, CPD is creating an educational and awareness campaign on the ordinance “to ensure understanding and compliance.” It will alert the public of where they can and cannot legally carry a gun, and the consequences that can come with violating the ordinance, a Class 1 misdemeanor: up to a year in jail, and a fine of up to $2,500.

Updated 9/16 to clarify the racial disparity in arrests made by CPD

Categories
Coronavirus News

In brief: Johnny Reb’s coming down, Kanye’s off the ballot, and more

The infamous Johnny Reb statue in Court Square is finally coming down on September 12. PC: Staff photo

In brief

Officer arrested

Charlottesville police officer Jeffrey Jaeger was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery last week. The charges stem from a March 3 incident in which three officers, including Jaeger, who is white, arrested an unnamed Black defendant for being drunk in public. After showing body camera footage during the trial, the defendant was found not guilty. It’s the latest incident in a disturbing pattern for the Charlottesville police: In a separate episode in July, a CPD officer was caught on film violently arresting a homeless man on the Downtown Mall.

No more ballots in VA

Two weeks ago, allegations surfaced that the signatures rapper-entrepreneur Kanye West had collected to make the presidential ballot in Virginia had been gathered fraudulently. Last week, those allegations were confirmed, and a Virginia court booted West from the ballot. How could they be so heartless?

Save the date

After years of activist campaigns, Johnny Reb is finally coming down on September 12. The removal of the infamous Court Square statue, as well as the two cannons and stacked cannonballs, will be livestreamed on the Albemarle County Facebook page. The event will feature guest speakers. A handful of organizations with dubious motives, including the Sons of Confederate Veterans, have volunteered to rehouse the statue. 

Campus crises

COVID cases continue to rise at UVA. The school reported 227 total positive cases as of September 6, as well as six new hospitalizations this weekend. Thomas Jefferson Health District has reported 198 new cases in the last week. The New York Times reports that cases have spiked in 100 college towns since students returned, especially in the Midwest and South.

__________________

Quote of the week

“[There’s] no real policy changes [coming], in that the system did work in the way that it is supposed to and it is designed to.”

—Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney after a CPD officer was charged for the assault and battery of a Black resident.

Categories
News

Imperfect solution: Activists warn that existing social service systems can’t fix problems with policing

Mental health advocate Myra Anderson warns that the social service systems need reform too. PC: Eze Amos

Since the violent arrest of an unhoused man on the Downtown Mall earlier this month, Defund Cville Police—along with numerous other activists and community members—have continued to call for the creation of a local mobile crisis unit, which would respond to emergency calls that the police are not equipped to handle.

Lori Wood, director of emergency and short term stabilization services at Region Ten Community Service Board, has expressed public support for the creation of such a unit, which she says could answer some calls related to mental health or substance abuse.

But radically shifting the city’s budget alone will not bring an end to systemic racism and oppression, specifically within mental health services, warns Black mental health advocate Myra Anderson.

“It’s moving money from one system that has historically and systemically not treated Black people right, [to] another system that has the same legacy,” says Anderson about Region Ten, a public agency—funded by local, state, and federal dollars—providing mental health, intellectual disability, and substance use services to Charlottesville and surrounding counties.

“Region Ten doesn’t need to be the go-to person [for the mobile crisis unit],” says Anderson, a former client who later became a board member and peer support specialist at the agency. “I feel like it’s Black skin…police are going to be on the scene anyway, based on personal biases that people [there] have.”

Former client Quezeann Williams also attests to these biases. At 10 years old, she says she was forced to go to Region Ten without her mother’s consent after she entered foster care, and was put on medications that “never made her feel good” and caused her to gain a lot of weight, among other side effects.

“I feel like because I was Black, what I said to the white people did not matter. It was their words against anything I felt, needed, or wanted,” says Williams, who graduated from Charlottesville High School this year. “I struggle from anxiety due to this being more so trauma than anything…It was one of the worst experiences I ever went through.”

Anderson began receiving services at Region Ten as a child in the ‘90s, and was diagnosed with PTSD and depression. After graduating from college, she says she returned to the agency for adult services, but was inflicted with even more trauma.

“The system caused me to be subjected to everything from cultural incompetency, to racial unawareness…to microaggressions,” she says. “There was a gap in racial empathy. And that has been consistent throughout the time I received services.”

These problems in mental health care systems exist nationwide. Black people, indigenous people, and people of color are more likely to receive poor quality of care and have their services end prematurely, among other disparities, according to the American Counseling Association.

Per federal law, Region Ten cannot comment on individual cases. However, it’s been working for several years to expand its cultural awareness and sensitivity as part of its strategic plan, says community relations coordinator Joanna Jennings.

“[We] offered staff and management the opportunity to attend a local racial and cultural humility training in the fall of 2018 and 2019,” she says. “These two training sessions began a journey for Region Ten that has opened up the conversation of systemic racism at all levels of the agency.”

In 2016, Anderson filed a formal complaint about her treatment with the Charlottesville Human Rights Commission. The complaint made its way up to the Virginia Human Rights Committee, and the following year, it ruled that Region Ten had unlawfully prevented her from receiving services for six years as retaliation for her complaints, slamming the agency with multiple violations.

Region Ten isn’t the only social service provider in Charlottesville that has demonstrated racial bias. An independent 2019 report on the city’s foster care system showed that Black and multiracial children were referred to child welfare services at a higher rate than white children, and that “some racial groups compared to others” experienced “less favorable outcomes” once within the system.

Instead of relying on existing social service institutions, Anderson—alongside local advocacy nonprofit Partner for Mental Health—plans to create a working group of peers, professionals, and other stakeholders from diverse backgrounds “to reimagine mental health without police intervention.”

The group will seek to understand the community’s needs and listen to the stories of “our most marginalized people who have engaged with our police while in mental distress,” she says. It will also study other mobile crisis units around the country and provide recommendations to City Council. The group hopes that starting from scratch will allow the new agency to focus on its work, without having to fight against biases in established institutions.

In recent years, Region Ten has created a team to lead its equity efforts, which plans to provide implicit racial bias training, among other goals and initiatives. It’s also looking to hire and retain more diverse staff.

“Region Ten recognizes that this is a long-term and multi-faceted commitment,” adds Jennings. “We will continue to press forward.”

While Anderson is in support of expanding additional behavioral health services through defunding the police, she believes Region Ten and other existing social service systems need to fix their “implicit biases” before receiving more money. “You can’t throw a band-aid on something that’s more like a gaping wound,” she says.