Charlottesville Police Department releases annual report for 2023

Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis has been on the job for about two and a half years now and has now presided over his second annual report for the department. 

“Despite unprecedented challenges, including having thirty sworn vacancies and a drastic increase in gun violence, we have remained focused on being community partners in Safety,” Kochis writes in the executive summary for the report. 

There were three murders in the first three months of 2023 and the department responded to an average of one call a day for shots fired. That did not deter Kochis from implementing his vision of having his officers become more present. 

“We have walked a different community every week, having meaningful, one-on-one conversations with residents, business owners, and visitors,” Kochis continues. “These conversations, along with internal focus groups and community meetings, have formed our strategic priorities for the next three years.”

Those priorities are in a strategic plan that is separate from the annual report. (view the strategic plan)

To address growing community concerns about gun violence, the department held a town hall that had originally been scheduled to be for one specific neighborhood. 

“Difficult and much needed conversations took place on this day, marking the beginning of many community-focused initiatives the department would create,” reads page 8 of the report. 

Another initiative in 2023 was the re-introduction of the Community Police Academy which is intended to give participants an insight to how each section of the police department works. 

According to the report, the department has 109 sworn officers and additional 36 support staff. Nineteen percent of officers are Black, 18 percent are female, and six percent identify as Hispanic. 

There were 32 total complaints of police misconduct, with some complaints containing multiple violations. Of these, 24 were sustained, 5 were exonerated, 18 were unfounded, and one remains unresolved. Details can be found on page 16.

In all, there were six homicides in 2023, up from 2 in 2022 and none in 2021. 

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