Fogel FOIA response from city How much has the City of Charlottesville paid out in settlements for claims of police misconduct? That’s what attorney Jeff Fogel hoped to learn when he filed a FOIA request on behalf of the People’s Coalition two weeks ago, asking for any responsive records for the past two years. The […]
Fogel FOIA response from city How much has the City of Charlottesville paid out in settlements for claims of police misconduct? That’s what attorney Jeff Fogel hoped to learn when he filed a FOIA request on behalf of the People’s Coalition two weeks ago, asking for any responsive records for the past two years. The […]
Two months after her controversial firing, former Charlottesville police chief RaShall Brackney has filed formal complaints against the city, and is threatening to bring a lawsuit. In complaints submitted to CPD’s human resources department, the local Office of Human Rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the NAACP, Brackney—the city’s first Black woman police chief—says […]
In August, Charlottesville’s Police Civilian Review Board, a body designed to investigate accusations of police misconduct, approved a new ordinance that expanded its powers. City Council, which began discussing the proposed ordinance last week, will have to vote in favor of it for the CRB to begin its work. In accordance with a new state […]
Last summer, hundreds of people took to the streets of downtown Charlottesville, demanding justice for Black people murdered by police across the country. Many protesters urged the city to drastically reduce the Charlottesville Police Department’s $18 million budget, and reallocate those funds toward community services, including mental health treatment. Thanks to new legislation, a mental […]
By Brielle Entzminger and Ben Hitchcock Three weeks ago, Charlottesville City Manager Chip Boyles announced that he had decided to fire Police Chief RaShall Brackney. The city will open a national search for the next chief of police, though community members and city councilors alike feel the reasons for Brackney’s dismissal remain murky. And for […]
Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney is on the outs—City Manager Chip Boyles terminated her contract last Wednesday evening. Brackney, the first Black woman to hold the job, had been at the head of the department since June 2018. A recent survey of police officers indicated that the rank-and-file had lost trust in Brackney, but other […]
Charlottesville SWAT team officers filmed their kids setting off explosives. They fired semi-automatic, department-owned weapons at unauthorized events. One officer consoled a colleague who was frustrated with police department leadership by suggesting “we kill them all and let God sort it out.” When videos documenting these behaviors made it to the chief, one officer was […]
Bagels go back to basics Bodo’s returned to in-store counter service on Monday, abandoning a drive-thru system that the famous local bagel chain had been operating at its Preston Avenue and Emmet Street locations since last May, when the onset of the coronavirus pandemic made going inside the bustling restaurants a no-go. “We’ve had to […]
Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney held a press conference Thursday afternoon to address what the department is calling an “unprecedented” rise in gun violence in the city. There have been eight incidents since November 5, a period that caps off a year in which police responded to 122 reports of shots being fired. There were […]
Holiday hope COVID-19, like the Grinch, has threatened to stop Christmas. But Dr. Alvin Edwards, senior pastor at Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church, says, “We decided early on we weren’t going to let this crisis drive us, we were going to make it work.” Jonathan Spivey, Mt. Zion’s minister of music worship, agreed. Back […]