RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith held his second meeting in a series scheduled to build a stronger relationship with residents on Thursday night.
The meetings come in the wake of a controversy surrounding the claim that Richmond Police stopped a mass shooting on the Fourth of July at Dogwood Dell.
“We are being open and transparent and are here to have conversation,” said Smith.
But for the second night in a row, residents couldn't directly ask a question to the chief. Instead, they had to write it down to be read out loud by someone else.
This format has prompted concern for some residents.
"It was somewhat of a letdown. We were not expecting to have to write questions on cards and weren't allowed to ask live questions," Paige Quietler, the president of the Carillon Civic Association, said.
CBS 6 asked Chief Smith why they chose this format and continued to use it following feedback fromWednesday night's session. Smith said the notecards were used for everyone's questions to be answered.
“We know in these forms there can be strong personalities that can take over and some of the questions can not get answered. That was the point of the cards to make sure everyone gets a chance to have their question answered,” Smith said.
Over half of the questions at Thursday night's conversation centered on Smith's claims that the department stopped a July 4th mass shooting plot at Dogwood Dell, despite no evidence made public of a specific location.
When one person's written question asked the chief why he went on television to have a press conference, he responded by saying he had answered those questions over and over again. He added that the department responded to numerous FOIAs and he said that much of what they were saying was true and accurate.
However, despite the chief responding to the written questions, many felt they were left without answers.
Quitler said she came looking for information on how they were specifically going to improve communication. She felt he touched on points people asked about but did not go into specifics.
A similar feeling was expressed by Richmond Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch who attended. She believed there was not anything new shared.
“I think all of us have clearly been wanting to get some answers,” Lynch said.
The police chief also addressed questions about recruitment, pay, traffic and other crimes, all before the captain of the third precinct shared successes in stopping crime and the types of crime the precinct is seeing,
The chief believes these types of conversations are just a start. He said they are doing what they can to communicate, something he said is a big part of building trust.
“I look forward to the many follow-up conversations that are going to come out of this session,” Smith said.
Three more conversations with the chief will be had in the other districts.
- Wednesday, Sept. 21 – For 1st Precinct residents at MLK Middle School, 1000 Mosby St.
- Thursday, Sept. 22 – For 4th Precinct residents at Barack Obama Elementary School, 3101 Fendall Ave.
- Tuesday, Sept. 27. Telephone Townhall Conversation
