Charlottesville Police Civilian Oversight Board

                                       December 8, 2022 at 6:30 PM

                                                  Agenda

                                   https://www.charlottesville.gov/zoom



I. Call to Order

II. Announcements

III. Approval of Minutes

IV. Approval of Agenda

V. Selection of Police Chief

VI. Public Comments (First)

VII. Progress on Executive Director Search

VIII. Status of Complaints and Review Requests

IX. Review of Policies and Procedures (Bias‐Based Policing)

X. City Council Action on Operating Procedures

XI. Scheduling of 2023 Meetings

XII. Public Comments (Second)

XIII. Adjournment
                CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE OVERSIGHT BOARD MEETING
                                               MINUTES
Date: November 10, 2022
Scheduled Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Virtual/Electronic Meeting
Board Members Attending: Bellamy Brown, Dashad Cooper, Jeff Fracher, Chair William “Bill”
Mendez
Staff: None
Board Members Not Attending: Deirdre Gilmore, James Watson
Guests: PCOB Counsel Pamela O’Barry
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:48 p.m.
Announcements:
The Chair announced that Member Nancy Carpenter was moving away from Charlottesville and had
resigned from the Board. He also announced that the job description for the Board’s Executive Director
had been posted on the city website and on the NACOLE job postings.
Approval of Minutes:
The Chair stated that minutes for the last two meetings were not yet available and that they would be
provided at the next meeting.
Approval of Agenda:
The agenda was approved by unanimous vote of members present. (Chair Mendez polled the members as
there was no Staff support for the meeting.)
Public Comments (I):
No members of the public requested to speak.
Status of Complaints and Review Requests:
The Chair reported that the Neutral Evaluation document in the complaint brought by Mr. Fogel, along
with Mr. Fogel’s response had been posted on the Board’s website. He noted that one complaint had been
received through the Board’s Portal and that it had been forwarded to the CPD Internal Affairs
Department. The Complainant was emailed stating that the Board could not conduct investigations until a
new Executive Director was hired, and the complainant was asked if they had any objection to Internal
Affairs conducting the investigation. The Chair noted that two review requests were pending, and the
complainants had been notified that they also could not be addressed at this time. Finally, a request had
been made to the CPD asking for the number of complaints received, and the number of closure letters
issues in October. No response had been received as of the date of the meeting.
Member Brown raised the issue of whether the Neutral Evaluation report represented the findings of the
Board or was strictly a document authored by Mr. Aguilar. He noted that he disagreed with some of the
findings in the Evaluation. The Chair stated that it was regrettable that the Board had not been able to
review the report and that such a procedure would not be used in the future.
Board Review of Policies and Procedures:
Member Brown presented a brief report on a review of the CPD General Order related to Bias-Based
Policing, including the definition of Bias-Based Policing and the history of its enforcement. Mr. Brown
offered to provide the Board with a draft of his critique at the next meeting, with the intent that the Board
could discuss it and decide on its recommendation to the CPD related to this General Order.
Town Hall Planning:
Member Fracher volunteered to undertake the task of planning for a Board-Sponsored Town Hall
meeting, tentatively scheduled for early 2023. He provided the Board with a proposal outlining the
purposes and objectives of the meeting, a list of stakeholders to be contacted, and suggestions for the
order of the meeting. He asked for comments from the Board members to be incorporated into the
proposal.
Progress on Operating Procedures:
The Chair stated that the City Attorney and Ms. O’Barry had been working very hard to finalize the
Board’s Operating Procedures for submission to the City Council, and thanked them for their efforts. He
noted that the current draft had been circulated to the Board and requested comments, noting that nothing
was yet “set in stone.” He indicated that the final draft would be posted on the Board’s website for
stakeholder comments as soon as it was ready and that the deadline for inclusion in the City Council
agenda package was November 22. In response to a question from Member Fracher, the Chair and Ms.
O’Barry indicated that very little had changed substantively from the version submitted to the Council in
April, although the order and organization of sections had changed.
Public Comments (Second):
Ms. Susan Burke asked whether the CPD had rejected Mr. Aguilar’s recommendations and whether the
Board intended to pursue the recommendations raised in the Neutral Evaluation. After a brief discussion,
the Board Chair promised to address Ms. Burke’s concerns via email. Member Brown was also invited to
submit his comments on the Neutral Evaluation in writing for inclusion in the record.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn was approved by unanimous vote at 7:26 PM.
The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for Thursday December 8 at 6:30 PM. The Board will meet
electronically.