When city council announced it would hire Michael Kochis as its next police chief, the mayor and the manager cited glowing recommendations from Warrenton, where he had led the police force since 2020. His first order of business there was to build trust with community leaders and residents.
“I can’t stress it enough – the co-production of public safety with the community is something our profession was founded on," he says. "We've got to get back to that, and I sincerely think we can. Trust is complex. It’s going to take time. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but shame on me if I’m not willing to do it.”
He organized a community action team to meet monthly and look deeply into police department policies.
“When thoughtful people sit down and have thoughtful conversations, you’d be surprised how much you agree," he says. "I had a pastor tell me one time, ‘It’s really hard to hate someone when you’re sitting across the table from them.’”
Kochis found people did not want to defund the police, and they didn’t want officers to ignore crime.
“They just didn’t want to be over-policed, so there is a balance, and those of us who have been in this profession for a long time know what that looks like.”
That’s why he’s big on officer training, and he wants it done in person. Take the problem of bias in dealing with the public.
“COVID has now caused a lot of that training to be like a webinar, and I’m sorry. It’s too important of a topic to do online. It needs to be in person, and it needs to be with members of the community so you can sit down and hear real stories, and officers can understand the impact that their implicit biases can have.”
Like many others in law enforcement, he talks about community policing – being a part of the neighborhoods you patrol. He put the policy into action when one block in Warrenton suffered a spate of shootings.
“Instead of just sitting in your car in an area that’s a hot spot you get out and sit on someone’s porch and actually know their kids’ names," he explains. "Giving people a voice – telling them what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. We had about 160 some calls for service in July. In August we had about 60-70. In September we had three. In October we had two, and the month of November we’ve had one call for service on that street. We had a barbeque not too long ago after that operation, because we can’t be seen as occupiers.”
In addition to confronting growing gun violence in Charlottesville, he will have to staff up. The department is authorized to pay 110 sworn officers but has only 80. Again, Kochis is confident he can rebuild the department – something he had to do in Warrenton. The key, he says, was to involve the rank and file in crafting the department’s mission and strategic plan – giving officers a sense of ownership.
“We are now fully staffed. I have zero vacancies for the first time in 15 years. The last vacancy we had I had 144 applicants, and we don’t pay well. I didn’t think as a young cop I’d ever say this, but it isn't all about the money, because the young women and men who get in this profession want a sense of purpose.”
And he’s committed to hiring a diverse workforce.
“And what I’m looking for is diversity in thought, diversity in perspective, maybe not necessarily a criminal justice background.”
His success in Warrenton was also tied to hiring more women.
“Twenty-four percent of our sworn staff are female officers. Our use of force is way down. They can talk to folks. They just make better cops.”
Charlottesville is, of course, a college town, and it will give Kochis a chance to put higher education into practice. Last year he joined the first class of graduates from UVA’s Master of Public Safety program.
