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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Prior to Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis’s arrival in January of 2023, police-community relations were not only strained in Charlottesville, but across the country in the wake of a number of high-profile cases involving police misconduct on the national stage.
On top of that, the country was trying to emerge from the trauma of the pandemic, plus in Charlottesville, gun violence was on the rise. Kochis faced a considerable challenge trying to establish community trust despite the aforementioned challenges in the Charlottesville community. He established a community action team and also implemented weekly “community walks” to engage with local citizens and hear their concerns.
One other action the chief took was to reinstitute the common practice across the country of a “National Night Out” event, which is geared at building unity in the community, typically done in the month of August.
Now as the Department approaches its third annual outreach event, Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania believes there has been a lot of progress in building community trust but still a ways to go.
“I think folks are having a more nuanced understanding and appreciation for how difficult it is for the men and women who are out there wearing a badge and how tough their job is,” Platania said. “I think that Chief Kochis would say that you never stop or rest you always need to continue building that trust and putting money in that bank account of community trust. He’s got the guardian score program where every officer with every interaction lets a citizen rate how they’re doing and give feedback.”
Kochis believes that among his departments many efforts to build community trust, National Night Out is one of the most important and fun opportunities.
“Again, it’s that close personal relationship that we build, regular conversations with neighbors and partners, just again being out there when there is not an emergency going on or something crazy going on so it’s those opportunities that we get to build really important relationships,” he said.
The Chief appeared on WINA Morning News and shared that the event will be held at a new location, Washington Park on Preston Avenue, and will feature a doughnut eating contest, dunking booth and other fun activities for families.
The information from the City Police Facebook page is below:
Want to dunk chief and our officers in the tank? Maybe you could use some Mission BBQ and Kona Ice in your life? One thing’s for sure: we gotcha covered at National Night Out. Come hang out with and meet your local first responders.
5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Washington Park – Lower Field
FREE Food Family-Friendly Games & Activities Meet Local First Responders Community Resource Tables 
Live DJ On-Site! Doughnut-Eating Competition – Think you’ve got what it takes?