The Charlottesville Police Department has engaged the U.S. Department of Justice to review its priorities to help identify potential “blind spots” in its policing strategies.
The Community Oriented Policing Services office plans to conduct an organizational assessment to evaluate CPD’s current staffing levels, community policing strategies and overall transparency in its continued efforts to build community trust.
“Over the last year, CPD has made significant strides in reducing vacancies, building trust and reducing gun violence,” said Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis. “It is important that we not become comfortable. This assessment will tell us what we don’t know and where our blind spots are.”
Over the next year, the Charlottesville Police Department will work with the COPS office collaborative reform initiative team to focus on:
- Community policing
- Problem solving
- Crime analysis
- Crime prevention
- Employee wellness
- Employee training
- Employee development
- Employee retention
- Resource analysis
- Strategic planning
- Accountability
- Oversight
- Evaluation
“The overall goals of the organizational assessment program include building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, enhancing officer safety and wellness and improving fairness and effectiveness in an agency’s operations,” said Benjamin C. Mizer, Acting Associate Attorney General, in a news release. “Any department that actively commits to pursuing those goals is taking a step in the right direction.”
Regular updates on the team’s work with the Charlottesville Police Department will be provided online.
“This is a comprehensive assessment that includes data and document review, direct observations of the agency’s activities and practices, interviews, focus groups and more,” said Hugh T. Clements, Jr., COPS office director. “At the same time the work is taking place, the public will receive regular updates, as transparency is a critical part of this process.”
The COPS office is the federal component of the Justice Department responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. The COPS office has been appropriated more than $20 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local, territorial and Tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of approximately 138,000 officers.
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Crystal Graham
