CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) Despite a number of high-profile gun-violence incidents in the city already this summer, data actually shows a significant drop in the number of Charlottesville shootings.

In May and June of 2024, there were 21 shots fired incidents and six people shot in the city. During the same months this year, those numbers dropped to six shots fired incidents and four shootings, drops of 76.2% and 33.3%, according to data provided to by the Charlottesville Police Department.’

“It’s been a whole community approach to addressing violent crime,” CPD chief Michael Kochis told Cville Right Now on Wednesday. “It’s much more complicated than just, the police going out there and addressing these issues.”

Kochis credited increased manpower combined with the department’s commitment to partnering with the community for the drop.

He said working with the local education system, mental health organizations, violence interrupters and other community members has helped his force combat the gun epidemic.

“We’ve got a mindset where, we’re going to work with the community, not against the community,” Kochis said. “We’re going to be partners with folks in our community because we realize we can’t do it all on our own.”

A trio of headline shootings may have skewed public perception about how much gun violence the city is seeing this summer. On June 7 and 14 there were separate shooting incidents on or near the Downtown Mall.

Then, on the Fourth of July, five people, including two children, were shot on Orangedale Ave.

(Last year in July, there were nine shots fired incidents and five shootings.)

Still, despite the overall decline in city shootings, Kochis said the department’s work on that front can never rest.

“I’m pleased, but I can tell you, I’m never going to spike the football. It’s an infinite game,” Kochis said. “We like to say, there’s never a light at the end of the tunnel. There’s just going to be more tunnels. We’re addressing these things. We’re going to keep moving, keep looking at ways to do better.”

One of the keys could be additional manpower.

In 2016, the department had 130 sworn officer positions. In the coming years, budget cuts led to vacant positions being eliminated, and the CPD is currently down to 111 positions for officers.

When Kochis was hired in 2023, he had 30 vacancies. He made filling those vacancies one of his priorities and today, the department has less than five unfilled spots, Kochis said.

He said he has ongoing conversations with city manager Sam Sanders about the need for more officers, especially as the city’s population density continues to rise.

“Two and a half years ago when I first got here, we took a hard look at what we were doing,” Kochis said. “One of the big things was, we didn’t have any people. You need people to do things. It was kind of a mess.”