To : UU Congregation of Charlottesville
Re: Report of Charlottesville Police Department
From: Rev. Dr. Linda Olson Peebles, Interim Lead Minister
Following an incident on Rugby Road in October, when a church member was stopped and questioned by a number of police officers, the Board of Trustees of the UU Congregation of Charlottesville wrote a letter to the Charlottesville Police Department, concerned that what had happened appeared to be a case of racial profiling, since the member is a person of color and he was simply walking on the sidewalk.
The CPD Office of Professional Standards, Internal Affairs Unit, conducted an investigation, and submitted a report of their findings earlier this month. Their interpretation of our letter of concern to them caused them to investigate three categories of violations – Bias Based Policing, Harassment, and Unconstitutional Search.
The final finding is that all charges are “Unfounded,” which is defined by them to mean “No basis of fact to support the allegation.” The Police are holding a public press conference Thursday, December 10, sharing this finding. Our congregation will once again be in the news.
Leaders of the congregation who have talked with our member about what happened are concerned with these findings. The CPD report has a number of discrepancies between the testimony of the police and the account of our church member. The church member’s response to the police report is that it was what is to be expected. He now tells us he is not interested in addressing this any longer, and has asked us to not take any further efforts to address his particular situation. We ask everyone in our congregation to respect this congregant’s wishes.
As members of a faith community believing in the worth and dignity of all people, and wanting to work for justice in human relations, this all is unsettling and disturbing. We know that racial profiling is a serious problem – not just for our own member, but for many residents of this city. The work of anti-racism and reconciliation in Charlottesville continues to be needed by all who side with love. We resolve to work together and with interfaith partners on this larger, systemic community concern.
Rev. Dr. Linda Olson Peebles, Interim Lead Minister