Chief Kochis refutes charges of police brutality in Market Street Park

Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis took to the podium in CitySpace on Thursday to address allegations that were made at City Council’s second regular meeting of September. 

“So on September 18th while at the City Council meeting, several disgusting and disturbing allegations were made about Charlottesville police officers while dealing with unhoused individuals,” Kochis said.

Chief Kochis said there were two specific allegations with one from September 12 and one from September 16. 

“Both interactions involved officers being dispatched to Market Street Park after someone called and complained about people sleeping in the park and pitching tents,” Kochis said. 

Let’s go back now and hear the way the allegations were made at that meeting. To set the tone, there were no major items on the regular agenda after Council heard two items at their work session. 

Here’s how Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook described the first section after Cultivate Charlottesville made a presentation on the Food Equity Initiative and before the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority presented their sustainability plan. 

“We have a robust 4 o clock agenda but the 6:30 agenda is a whole lot of nothing,” Snook said.

About two hours later, the second public speaker picked up on Snook’s comment. 

“I’m going to yield my time to Mrs. Deirdre Gilmore but since you all were joking in your earlier session about how this session is a bunch of nothing, I hope you’ll see fit to extend the public comment so everyone here who has something to share can do so,” said Donna Gasapo.

Gilmore is a former chair of the Public Housing Association of Residents who has spoken to Council frequently over the years. 

“There was an incident at the park where one of the officers kicked the young man that was sitting here,” Gilmore said. “He was trying to wake him up but instead of gently touching him or maybe using a nightstick, he decided to kick him.” 

Gilmore also accused police of singling out a man named Roscoe Boxley when he was arrested on September 12 because he was Black. Arrest records available through the city’s open data portal show Boxley was charged that night with both trespassing and violating the terms of his probation. 

Gilmore also blamed City Council for an overall societal problem.

“And I’m going to say this to you, you all should be ashamed yourself for there to be 260 people sleeping on the streets of Charlottesville with all this development going on,” Gilmore said.

Later in the public comment period, Gasapo returned to speak for a second time. 

“In a city where white settler colonizer descendants disproportionately thrive in relation to everyone else who lives and works here, we are unsurprised that your police forces who we know to be here to protect the interest of the wealthy elite and not for the safety of anyone else, as you all try to claim, we are unsurprised that your police forces are targeting our Black and unhoused neighborhoods from harassment, arrest, and violence,” Gasapo said. 

Gasapo was one of three people arrested for disrupting the first City Council meeting after the Unite the Rally and subsequent aftermath in August 2017, as reported in the Daily Progress. Four months later, Council agreed to create the Police Civilian Review Board in response to emphatic public comment periods.  Gilmore would later be one its members. 

Near the end of her comments, Gasapo called for people to be vigilant of the police.

“Get trained in ‘Cop Watch’ and other forms of bystander training so you can assist your neighbors when they are being harassed by the police,” Gasapo said. 

Three days after Gilmore and Gasapo spoke, City Manager Sam Sanders temporarily eliminated closing times for Market Street Park pending an investigation. 

Kochis’ response

Let’s go back now to the September 28 press conference and hear from Chief Michael Kochis respond to the public comments. 

“One of the allegations that was made during the meeting was that our officers have been targeting Black individuals with violence,” Kochis said. “Another allegation was that a police officer assaulted an unhoused individual by kicking him on the ground. I heard several descriptions of this event such as the officer was ‘kicking him like a football’ and ‘kicking him in his chest.’”

Kochis noted that no complaints were made to the Charlottesville Police Department nor the Charlottesville Police Civilian Oversight Board. After hearing Gilmore and Gasapo’s allegations, Kochis contacted Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania to investigate the body camera footage. 

“The allegation of an assault must be referred to the Commonwealth’s Attorney as it’s a crime,” Kochis said. “Mr. Platania and his assistant reviewed the footage and immediately determined that the contact with the individual in question was incidental to the lawful discharge of the officer’s duty, reasonable under the law, and did not rise to the level of battery.” 

City parks all have closing times and overnight camping is not allowed. This was challenged in the fall of 2011 with the Occupy Charlottesville movement. That ended with the arrest of 18 people on December 1 of that year after a temporary permit expired. 

Kochis said on September 12, officers were called to the park.  (watch the press conference)

“Officers arrived and found several tents that had been set up,” Kochis said. “Officers advised those in the park that the park closes in a few minutes and they they would need to pack up their belongings once the park closed. While waiting for the items to be packed up, one individual exited a tent and set up a chair in the walkway. The individual sat in the chair and stated ‘you’re about to make an arrest tonight.’” 

Kochis said this individual insisted on being arrested.

“After 11 p.m. when the park closed, the officer advised the individual that he could avoid being arrested if he would just leave the park like everyone else was,” Kochis said. “The individual refused to leave the park at that time and was arrested without incident.” 

“We don’t got nowhere to go,” Boxley said during the encounter. “Nowhere at all.”

“Have you not tried the Salvation Army?” the unidentified officer asks.

“What are you talking about the Salvation Army?” Boxley asks. “Do you think I’d be right here if I could get into the Salvation Army.  We’re not here for no mother f**king negotiating. These are the terms. You’re going to lock me up right now because I ain’t going nowhere and the only way I’m going somewhere is if you lock me up. I’m going to be heard one way or another.”

“Sure, I get that,” said the officer. “And if it comes to that, we absolutely will but I’m asking you.”

In the audio version of this newsletter, a little more of this exchange can be heard before Boxley is arrested without further incident. He was defiant before the arrest.

“I don’t give a f**k about going to no jail,” Boxley said. “All of these people are going to witness what just happened tonight and they’re going to be my voice when I’m behind bars.” 

You can also review it yourself in video posted to Facebook at about 15:30 into the stream. (view the stream)

Kochis said a second incident took place on September 16 when police were once again called to the park. Officers encountered people there after hours. 

“These individuals were white, Black, and Latino,” Kochis said. “Officers approached each of them and made them aware of the park being closed and that they would need to be given some time to collect their belongings and leave the park. At one point, officers approached the individual where it is alleged that an officer had assaulted him by kicking him. The officers approached him and asked him to wake up, which he did. The officers told him the park was closed and that he needed to pack up his stuff and leave.”

The contact can be seen at 22:07 or so in the video. The exchange is also in the audio version. (view the stream)

Kochis said the officers went on tell others they had to leave the park but noticed that the man went back to sleep, but this time with a blanket over his head. 

“Officers attempted to wake him up again but received no response,” Kochis said. “At this point, one of the officers touched the heel of the person’s foot with his own foot to wake him up. He  woke up. He eventually packed his stuff and left the park.” 

Kochis said calls responding to the unhoused are complex and that he has ordered a review of training protocols related to calls to service for that population.  He acknowledged that more needs to be done by everyone to address systemic issues. 

“The officers spoke of the frustration of having to send people on their way with nowhere to go,” Kochis said. “Our officers are human beings just like the folks in that park and their frustrations with the systems and programs that continue to fail these communities palpable and I share their frustrations.” 

During the press conference, Kochis said other places in Virginia where he has in had more community services.

“I’ve worked in two other jurisdictions, the City of Alexandria and the Town of Warrenton,” Kochis said. “Both had a 24 hour shelter with wrap-around services and I’ve never been in a jurisdiction that doesn’t have either, and we don’t have them.”

To conclude this article, some pieces of information, none of which is complete. 

• Charlottesville’s budget for FY24 includes $67,000 for a new Homelessness Coordinator, a position that will be in the Office of Equity and Inclusion.
• A partnership between three groups is in the early stages of developing the former Red Carpet Inn on Premier Circle into an 80-unit supportive housing facility similar to the Crossings at 4th Street. As part of this project on U.S. 29, the Piedmont Housing Alliance will build an additional 60 units of below-market housing. 
• Council approved a rezoning on August 7 that will allow the Salvation Army on Ridge Street to expand from 58 beds to 114 beds. 
• PACEM is seeking applicants for their upcoming season of cold-weather emergency homeless shelters. The season runs through late October to April and they need between 15 to 20 people. (learn more)
• The executive director of the Haven appeared before Council to ask for them to waive property taxes for the property so that owner Tom Shadyac will transfer the land and building to the nonprofit. That will allow them to ask for public funding for repairs and other capital improvements. 

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the September 29, 2023 edition of the program. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.