Police pause Peregrine, restrict Flock access; announce gun buyback and speed-camera trial results

Charlottesville police announced several operational changes and public-safety initiatives at the council meeting, including a pause in the Peregrine program and tightened access to Flock Safety license-plate data after public concern about surveillance and immigration enforcement.

Chief Cochran said the police department will not deploy the Peregrine program at this time and has instructed its Center for Policing Equity partner that related work will pause. The department also cut external access to its Flock Safety system: access has been disabled for all other Virginia localities and federal agencies; the system will remain available for local, city-only investigative use. Cochran said Flock had been used locally to help identify suspects in two recent downtown-mall shootings, but the department restricted sharing amid concerns that regional access could enable cross-jurisdictional use by agencies that participate in 287(g)-type immigration enforcement.

Cochran also announced a gun buyback event scheduled for Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Mount Zion First African Baptist Church (first-of-three details provided at the meeting). The buyback will accept firearms with no questions asked and provide gift cards based on firearm type; the city said collected weapons will be destroyed.

The department reported traffic-enforcement pilot results: in an initial operational period of roughly 10 days the camera program produced 181 warnings. Cochran said fall enforcement will issue real tickets and that state law passed by the General Assembly requires any revenue from those tickets (beginning July 2026) to flow to the state literary fund in Richmond.

Cochran gave an update about two downtown-mall shootings the prior week, noting that investigations showed groups of people leaving late-night establishments and that an increased police presence and conversations with ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) and business owners will be part of a concerted response. He said the department will increase evening patrols and work with businesses on security measures and crowd management.

Community members and advocacy groups had raised surveillance and immigration concerns earlier in the meeting. Javier Rodales, executive director of Simbarra's Without Barriers, told council that automated license-plate collection and data-sharing risks disproportionately harming immigrant residents, and Reverend Karen Mann expressed concern that surveillance systems like Flock and Peregrine can be used by federal immigration authorities. Cochran acknowledged community concerns and said the department would not continue certain data-sharing practices while it evaluates policy and privacy implications.