CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – With his wife and department leadership present, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution of appreciation Wednesday to retiring Chief of Police Col. Sean Reeves, who will officially step down Oct. 1, during its meeting on Wednesday.

The resolution cites Reeves’ over 30 years of public service, beginning as a Military Police Officer in the Army from 1996 to 2001, and how he “faithfully” served in Albemarle County for 25 years, beginning in 2001 when he joined ACPD as a Patrol Officer.

The resolution described accomplishments during the whole of his service, such as “creating the Cybercrimes Unit, developing a community coalition around mental health crisis response, advancing the body-worn camera program, and serving as the lead ACPD representative on the County’s incident management teams for COVID-19, the At Ready Statue Removal, and the events of Aug. 12.”

The resolution also praised him for providing leadership in formation of the Human Services Alternative Response Team (HART) which is comprised of a police officer, a paramedic, and a social services mental health professional to go out on some calls,  participating in the federal and local initiative Project Safe Neighborhoods, training officers in the use of Narcan in the field, modernizing law enforcement practices to meet the needs of a growing community, updating departmental policies and procedures to improve service delivery, and establishing an employee mental and physical wellness program to ensure ACPD officers have access to the resources they need to effectively respond to calls for service and sustain long-term careers in law enforcement.

An emotional sendoff

“Looking back … for 25 years and serving this community for more than half of the police department’s entire existence, it really hits home with me,” Reeves told the supervisors.

Rio Supervisor and Board Chair Ned Gallaway invited Reeves to the podium before Gallaway read the resolution. Later, at the outset of her remarks, Rivanna Supervisor Bea LaPisto Kirtley even shed a few tears.

“The body warn cameras shows to our community you’re showing transparency, you’re showing what we can do so that people in our community will trust us,” LaPisto Kirtley said. “The HART team shows innovation, and it shows you care.”

Reeves talked about how the county has grown since he joined the force a quarter-century ago, and said policing has changed a lot since then and he’s had to implement changes in his four-and-a-half years as chief.

“Cops hate two things — they hate change and they hate the way things are,” he said. “Knowing that and still managing to execute change during leadership in the past four-and-a-half years truly has been my honor and privilege to serve this county.”

Scottsville Supervisor Mike Pruitt praised Reeves for navigating through what could be a difficult political environment.

“Police and elected officials are often at loggerheads in a lot of jurisdictions and especially true, to put the tiger on the table, in jurisdictions that are led by Democrats during the last several years,” Pruitt said. “And that, at least during my service on the board, has not been the case.”

Gallaway said that Reeves, the department’s sixth chief, Reeves has set an example.

“You have kind of helped us shape the mold of what we want our chief to be in Albemarle County because of the things that have been mentioned,” Gallaway said. “We share an idea in a sense about how policing should happen in our county and we’ve been on the same page and found different things to put in place that kind of back up what the philosophy or that approach is.

“But the person who’s solidified it and really truly has been holding it together has been you.”

Reeves said he’s stepping away at a good time.

“I have full faith and confidence that our police department is in great hands and we’re heading in the right direction, absolutely,” Reeves said.

Who will be the next chief?

Now, the focus shifts to finding a successor.

Maj. Randy Jamerson, who has been with the department for over 20 years is currently the acting chief.  Maj. Camille Stewart, who recently joined the department from Fairfax County, had served in the role of acting chief from May until Aug. 13.  They are both candidates with plenty of experience who could be potential internal hires.

The last two police chiefs have been hired from amongst the rank and file, as Ron Lantz was promoted to the post prior to Reeves.

The Albemarle Police Chief is chosen by the County Executive, who then makes a recommendation that must be approved by the Board of Supervisors, Albemarle spokesperson Abbey Stumpf told Cville Right Now. The county does not have a timeframe for the hire, Stumpf said.

“Hiring is never taken lightly, but there are certain positions that are really not taken lightly, and our chief of police is one of them,” Albemarle County Stumpf said. “So, there is a process right now, an internal conversation of what does this promotion or recruitment process look like. You know, what are the benefits of internal processes, external processes, what have we done for the last couple chiefs.”

She also discussed the possibilities of interview panels, as that was a process that was used in the hiring of Deputy Police Chief Camille Stewart.

“What would different panels look like? What are the attributes everybody’s looking for in the next chief? So, those conversations are being had, and, in the meantime, Maj. Jamerson has also been amazing in his decades of service to Albemarle County,” Stumpf said. “Maj. Camille Stewart has been in that role for the last couple months and she’s still here, so we have an amazing leadership team that’s going to keep us going for the next couple months as we work through this really important process for the next police chief.”