Documents and Incidents Tagged "College & University"

A 2022 lawsuit was filed alleging unnamed VCU Police officers assaulted and pepper sprayed a man while he stood outside the hospital waiting for his ride.

Longtime VCU Police officer Polly F. Griffin was arrested, charged, indicted, and subsequently decertified as a police officer after assaulting an individual while on duty and in uniform. Griffin appealed her decertification status to the CJSB Executive Committee; her certification was reinstated on November 17, 2022 without the public taking much notice.

While few details are known publicly, it was reported that Officers Craig Ozment and Brandon Scott Austin, then employed as police officers at Christopher Newport University, allegedly used racial slurs and threatened fellow employees in the department.

According to the Daily Press, "A federal civil rights agency concluded... that Christopher Newport University police officers subjected two co-workers to death threats and a hostile work environment last year, in violation of federal law. CNU President Paul Trible said the agency’s findings weren’t valid, and said he plans to take no action in response to the finding except fighting the case in court if necessary."

CNU Police Officer Brandon ("Scott") S. Austin was accused of making a traffic stop where he did not have jurisdiction to do so. He was also accused of conducting a false arrest, violating a plaintiff's civil rights, and lying before a magistrate.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James E. Bradberry upheld CNU's jurisdiction but suggested Brandon Scott Austin be relieved of his duties, the Daily Press reported.

"Meisner said he was concerned when Austin pulled him over and he noticed Austin was not a city police officer. He said Austin was shouting for him to get out of his car, and that frightened him," the Daily Press wrote. "He said Austin also failed to identify himself. Meisner asked Austin to call the city police. Austin refused, so Meisner drove away to a lighted area where he could contact the police. He drove to Oyster Point Shopping Center and Newport News police arrived. They let him go...

'About a week later police came to Meisner’s home and, Meisner said, they arrested him in front of his family, babysitter, and neighbors...."