There has been a wave of shootings and homicides in the community in the past six months. At the beginning of the meeting, interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers addressed the issue.
“Chief [Michael] Kochis and the men and women of the Charlottesville Police Department are working tirelessly to address the recent spike in gun violence and to bring justice to those who have been affected,” Rogers said.
Rogers said the police department has embarked on a strategy to rebuild trust in communities, including assigning a police sergeant as a “Community Involvement Coordinator.”
“The coordinator is currently putting together a gun buyback program as well as reviewing other programs that have seen success in other jurisdictions,” Rogers said,
There will be a Community Walk and Talk tomorrow in the Fifeville neighborhood beginning at 4 p.m.
Rogers also said the city is also looking to see if Charlottesville can provide an alert system similar to one the University of Virginia uses to notify people of ongoing situations.
“Currently we rely on social media and news outlets,” Rogers said. “I’ve asked our [Information Technology] director as well to look into extending the city alert system to residents. We’ll report back on this at a later meeting.”
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