The Department of Justice (DOJ) is conducting an assessment of Virginia’s Charlottesville Police Department (CPD).
Through its Collaborative Reform Initiative (CRI), the DOJ’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) will spend the next year working with the CPD to evaluate community policing, crime prevention, employee training, strategic planning, and accountability, the DOJ said in a press release.
“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,” DOJ COPS Office Director Hugh Clements said. “At the same time the work is taking place, the public will receive regular updates, as transparency is a critical part of this process.”
This comes at the request of the CPD, which said that the department seeks to improve its operations in areas such as staffing, policing strategies, and transparency “in its continued efforts to build community trust.”
“The assessment evaluates the efficiencies and processes of law enforcement agencies to ensure they are effectively meeting the needs of their communities,” the CPD said.
The CPD said the assessment isn’t required by law but that it is participating to demonstrate its determination to strengthen its relationship with the community.
“Over the last year, CPD has made significant strides in reducing vacancies, building trust, and reducing gun violence,” CPD Chief Michael Kochis said. “It is important that we not become comfortable. This assessment will tell us what we don’t know and where our blind spots are. We will continue to challenge ourselves as an organization and are fortunate to have those in the COPs Office working with us.”
‘Systematic Issues’
According to the DOJ, the CRI is a voluntary, in-depth evaluation of “systematic issues” in law enforcement that have weakened community trust.The CRI utilizes community engagement, subject matter expertise, research, and organizational reform to appraise the inner workings of the CPD.
The COPS Office was given over $20 billion to assess local law enforcement agencies.
“Through the years, the COPS Office has become the go-to organization for law enforcement agencies across the country and continues to listen to the field and provide the resources that are needed to reduce crime and build trust between law enforcement and the communities served,” the DOJ said.
Earlier this month, the DOJ announced the COPS Office assessment of the Boston Police Department’s Human Resources and its final report on the Columbus, Ohio, Police Department.
In its report, the COPS Office said that the Columbus Police Department struggled with technological and operational change in addition to transparency as a result of poor data collection regarding the use of force (UOF) despite there being “no glaring evidence” of UOF taking place “at an unusually high rate in Columbus.”
“Because of the lack of systems integration, it cannot definitively state that it is doing things very well, nor can it identify any underlying problems that may exist,” the report stated.
The report called for the Columbus Police Department to improve its monitoring and reporting technology to ensure transparency.
“The CDP’s transparent reporting of UOF data can help Columbus community members develop a greater sense of trust and confidence in their police department,” the report said.
The Epoch Times has contacted the Columbus Police Department for comment.
