Charlottesville Police Civilian Oversight Board launches online complaint portal

Charlottesville’s Police Civilian Oversight Board launched an online portal where people can submit complaints of alleged misconduct by Charlottesville City Police officers.

Complaints will go directly to the PCOB for investigation, according to a news release from the city. The portal can also be used to request the PCOB review CPD internal affairs investigations, submit recommendations to improve CPD or the PCOB itself, and to share compliments and positive feedback for CPD.

People will also be able to track case progress via the portal.

Community members can still submit complaints and allegations via email, snail mail, fax, and phone, or in person at the PCOB office in Charlottesville City Hall. 

• Email:  pcob@charlottesville.gov
• Snail mail: ATTN: Police COB, P.O. Box 911, Charlottesville, VA 22902
• Phone:  call (434) 970-3794 to reach PCOB executive director Hansel Aguilar
• In person: Charlottesville City Hall, 605 E. Main St., Charlottesville, VA 22902

Along with the online complaint portal, the PCOB launched another new initiative: officer interaction cards. Community members can request cards on the spot from CPD officers, who will carry the cards in both English and Spanish. Cards can be filled out for positive and negative interactions with officers, the press release said. Each card has space for the officer’s name, reason for the encounter, date of the interaction, and a report number, as well as information for contacting CPD internal affairs and the PCOB. 

The PCOB also plans to conduct survey “to gain insight and a pulse on the community members’ thoughts and experience with the CPD and PCOB.” PCOB Executive Eirector Hansel Aguilar will direct the survey, which will be anonymous and confidential, according to the press release. The feedback received will be used by the PCOB, Charlottesville City Council, the City Manager’s Office, and the CPD, as well as the community as a whole, “to see where in the City these relationships can benefit from more attention and to assess performance across time.”

It’s unclear when the PCOB will begin the survey, it was not posted at the time of this publication.

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