2025 annual report - accomplishments

In 2025, the committee:

• Recruited five new committee members, one staff member, two graduate students and two undergraduate students as well as retained Katherine Poarch as the committee chair and four long-
  standing, valuable committee members. The current list of committee members can be
  found here.
• Facilitated required training for all new members, which included training with the Chief of
  Police; interactive training with the police academy; and two two-hour ride-alongs with
  police officers.
• Met virtually with Associate Vice President for Emergency Services John Venuti for an informational and update discussion.
• Convened twice at the police headquarters for two four-hour, in person, incident review sessions.
  • Completed comprehensive reviews of 55 police incidents, which includes use of
    force, display of weapon and all incoming complaints (14 UOF/weapon display, 41
    complaints).
  • The in-person review meetings also included a police department update from the Chief of Police.

2024 annual report

In 2024, the committee:

• Convened at the VCU Police Department headquarters for two, four-hour meetings to review all use of force and display of weapon incidents and complaints for the year -- over 50 incidents were reviewed.
• Met two other times throughout the year, including a meeting with the senior vice president for finance and administration and CFO to receive university updates and conduct administrative business.
• Interviewed the final candidates for the VCU chief of police search.
• The chair, Katherine Poarch, served on the search committee for the chief of police.
• Some committee members served on police department interview panels for internal command positions.
• Onboarded four new committee members, including three students and one VCU Health employee. 

2023 annual report

In 2023, the committee:

• Held four committee meetings. Topics included finalizing the committee’s website; identifying opportunities to recruit new members; John Venuti, VCU Police chief, presenting updates on behalf of VCU Police; and discussions with Meredith Weiss, Vice President for Administration. The committee also reviewed use-of-force incidents and complaints.
• Recruited four new committee members including three students and one VCU Health employee. 
• Launched the VCUPD Community Oversight and Advisory Committee website and complaint submission portal.

2022 annual report 

The VCUPD Community Oversight and Advisory Committee kicked off in March 2022. The committee, a key recommendation of the VCU Safety and Well-being Advisory Committee, is charged with researching best practices, reviewing VCU Police policies, guidelines, and practices, reviewing use of force incidents and complaints, and engaging with the VCU Community and surrounding neighborhoods to raise awareness of the Committee and the rights of community members. You can read more about the committee charge here.

In year one, the committee:

• Participated in over 8 hours of training, including VCU Police overview training led by Chief Venuti, ride alongs on the Monroe Park and Academic Medical Campuses including the VCU Medical Center, and MILO firearms simulation training.
• Held 4 full committee meetings. Topics included how to structure the committee to ensure its long term success, VCU Police updates from VCU Police Chief John Venuti, and discussions with the Vice President for Administration, Meredith Weiss. The committee also reviewed use of force incidents and complaints in their full committee meetings.
• Formed 2 subcommittees, one focused on communications and engagement, including building a website and complaint portal, and the other subcommittee was responsible for researching best practices.

VCU Police Community Oversight and Advisory Committee Annual Report 2023