Augusta Board of Supervisors debate police body cameras, address officers on leave
The Chair and Vice Chair of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors voted against even looking for grant funds to put body cameras on county officers while the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office has two officers out on paid administrative leave following their alleged actions during arrests.
As of the Wednesday, Dec. 13 supervisor's meeting, two Augusta County Sheriff's officers were on administrative leave. A deputy, Andrew Simonetti, was placed on leave Tuesday night after a video emerged, showing him immediately tackling a suspect when he arrived on the scene after receiving a call for backup. A second Augusta officer, Sgt. William Mikolay, was charged by the Albemarle County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office with malicious wounding, misdemeanor assault, and battery.
“In the press, we’ve learned about more people that are under investigation at the sheriff’s office,” explained supervisor Scott Seaton. “A couple of weeks ago, we learned that Augusta County has a second deputy who has been charged and is on paid administrative leave after the Virginia State Police investigated his actions during the arrest of a man and a woman who were in a vehicle that was eluding them. … The man, who has been arrested by the deputy, has been charged with what I would consider despicable crimes and certainly needed to be captured. Yet we now have a deputy who is under a cloud of charges, who has entered a slow judicial process that will clear his name or find him guilty.”
‘Maybe we need to go back to the schools where we start whipping them.’
During the Wednesday meeting, Chair Michael Shull addressed the recent arrests, beginning his statement by referencing his youth. Shull explained he got his “butt beat for not listening” both in home and at school, saying that although the culture no longer approves of child abuse in schools, he does not “know that’s a good thing, but there were consequences for not listening.” He then turned to the relevant arrests.
“The one that was leaving Augusta County was leaving and [there were] blue light running behind him. When the blue lights come on, it means pull over. It don’t mean keep running. There are consequences to what we do. … Before we pass judgement [on the officers], let’s give our deputies the benefit of the doubt for doing their job. Maybe we need to go back to the schools where we start whipping them. It might change some attitudes. There is no disciplinary action for the consequences you’re put under today. You’re slapped on the hand, even from the judges.”
After Shull spoke, Seaton raised concerns about the implications of Shull’s statement.
“It sounded awfully like you were endorsing whipping kids in schools and endorsing police officers not following their standards that are upheld by our court,” Seaton said. “I just can’t stand here and not say anything. … I’ve never been arrested, but I wouldn’t think these police officers [in the boardroom] would endorse beating someone just because there’s a bad guy. There are greater factors that have to be taken into account when you’re taking someone into custody, and I don’t think that advocating that people deserve what they get for doing something wrong. Punishment should come after the court, not before the court.”
Shull further explained his position in response, noting that this was his opinion, not the board of supervisor’s.
“I did not advocate for deputies to whip anybody. I was using an example of back in the day. When we got whippings, … there were discipline in things. Parents made their kids, and teachers made their kids, listen. They didn’t kill them. When I got my whippings in school, it didn’t kill me. I’m not advocating the deputies to whip anybody, but the consequences of when the lights come on, they should pull over. They shouldn’t keep running. In no way did I advocate for the deputies to do anything that is harmful to anybody that is out here in Augusta County or the state of Virginia. But they should respect you and the law when they have done something wrong, all you’ve got to do is surrender. Don’t make the situation any worse than what it is.”
“As a former police officer, I didn’t interpret your words to say that it’s okay to beat somebody up because he was running,” supervisor Butch Wells added.
How could officer body cameras help?
With two officers under investigation, one way to determine the facts of their situations would be for investigators to watch what happened with their own eyes. Because of this, Seaton highlighted the need for body cameras on the county officers.
“On the campaign trail, I talked to deputies, police officers in Staunton and Waynesboro and they really like their body cameras,” said Seaton. “It protects them from false accusations and provided evidence for the prosecution against suspects accused of crimes. … I certainly hope [Sgt. William Mikolay] is not guilty. The Virginia State Police concluded that enough evidence existed to recommend the Albemarle Commonwealth Attorney bring charges against the deputy. A camera in this situation would have shown the evidence. … He would have been exonerated if he didn’t do what they’re charging him [with]. Evidence of the deputy’s guilt could have been shown. Alternatively, the body camera would have prevented the deputy from doing something he may now regret. None of us know if the deputy is guilty or innocent, yet a body camera could have easily clarified and prevented the situation.”
The board rejects one motion, accepts the second
Seaton introduced a motion to instruct the county administrator to apply for grants available from federal state and private sources to help pay for body cameras and dash cameras in anticipation that the budget will contain cameras.
According to Seaton, the board previously had the administrator explore potential body camera funding sources. Because of this, he expects staff to already have an idea of what the available grants, and their application process, could look like.
“Once again I want to mention that it’s a little premature because no decision has been made,” supervisor Caroline Bragg responded. “I’m not going to say one way or another [if the board will approve the cameras], but you can’t apply for something you may not do. … I think it's fine to see … what kind of money we’re talking about potentially having access to, but to actually apply, I just don’t think that’s the process. I don’t think you apply for a grant and say ‘can I please have a grant just in case we need this,’ you just can’t do that.”
“We don’t have to accept the money if it’s not in the budget,” Seaton replied. “At least we would know, for the budget, how much we would have to offset what we would need to pay for. … If you apply late, you’re going to get your money late. If you apply now, I don’t know what the timeline is going to be to receive the funds, but you’re certainly going to be better off applying now than waiting three months.”
Three members of the public spoke in favor of the cameras during the comment period of the meeting, all three referencing the officers on leave. One said the department is already throwing away public dollars paying officers that aren't working, when they could be purchasing body cameras to keep investigation time short and innocent officers on the street.
The board rejected the motion on a six to one vote, Seaton voting in favor.
Seaton then introduced a second motion to have staff explore availability of grants for body and dash cameras for law enforcement. This motion passed five to two, with Shull and Vice Chair Jeffery Slaven voting against.
Full comments from a testy exchange
Seaton on body cameras in the Sgt. William Mikolay case:
“In the press, we’ve learned about more people that are under investigation at the sheriff’s office. It’s just something that I’ve never experienced. All of the sheriff’s deputies here have been great. Thankfully I’ve never been pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy. All of interactions with sheriff’s deputies when I walked in their homes this year have been good. I have sheriff’s deputies I see regularly. … There are great people and there is a disparate interaction that I have compared to what other people are having. I think that body cameras would be helpful. A couple of weeks ago, we learned that Augusta County has a second deputy who has been charged and is on paid administrative leave after the Virginia State Police investigated his actions during the arrest of a man and a woman who were in a vehicle that was eluding them. The chase began in Augusta and ended over 15 miles into Albemarle County. The man who has been arrested by the deputy has been charged with what I would consider despicable crimes and certainly needed to be captured. Yet we now have a deputy who is under a cloud of charges, who has entered a slow judicial process that will clear his name or find him guilty. A cloud that could have easily have been clarified if he had been wearing a body camera. I certainly hope he is not guilty. The Virginia State Police concluded that enough evidence existed to recommend the Albemarle Commonwealth Attorney bring charges against the deputy. A camera in this situation would have shown the evidence that would have cleared the deputy. He would have been exonerated if he didn’t do what they’re charging him [with]. Evidence of the deputy’s guilt could have been shown. Alternatively, the body camera would have prevented the deputy from doing something he may now regret. None of us know if the deputy is guilty or innocent. Yet a body camera could have easily clarified and prevented the situation."
Later, Shull on the Sgt. William Mikolay case:
“I grew up in an age, when I came up through school, I got my butt beat for not listening. I got my butt beat at home for not listening. I know we don’t do that anymore. I don’t know that’s a good thing, but there were consequences for not listening. All across this nation, we kind of focused on the one that is the criminal and maybe not the deputy or whatever. The one that was leaving Augusta County was leaving and it was either blue lights running behind him. When the blue lights come on, it means pull over. It don’t mean keep running. There are consequences to what we do. If you look at the, probably, crimes across this nation, when they say halt, put your hands up, get out of the car, all you have to do is listen. We’ve got away from that. We don’t listen to our parents, we don’t listen to our teachers, and so there’s consequences. I know we have some bad off- there may be- I’m not saying we’ve got bad officers here, but every once in a while you may have one. The sheriff or whoever is responsible weeds those out. Before we point the finger and say they’re guilty, we ought to let the system work and see what’s going on. … Before we pass judgement, let’s give our deputies the benefit of the doubt for doing their job. Maybe we need to go back to the schools where we start whipping them. It might change some attitudes. There is no disciplinary action for the consequences you’re put under today. You’re slapped on the hand, even from the judges. … That’s not the thing to do. One other thing, that was personally from me, not this board.”
Seaton responds to Shull:
“It sounded awfully like you were endorsing whipping kids in schools and endorsing police officers not following their standards that are upheld by our court. I just can’t stand here and not say anything. We have four police officers [in the room, they] do an excellent job. I don’t know if they arrest people. I’ve only had good experiences. I’ve never been arrested, but I wouldn’t think these police officers here would endorse beating someone just because there’s a bad guy. There are greater factors that have to be taken into account when you’re taking someone into custody, and I don’t think that advocating that people deserve what they get for doing something wrong. Punishment should come after the court, not before the court.”
Shull responds to Seaton:
“I’ll make a clarification. I did not advocate for deputies to whip anybody. I was using an example of back in the day when we got whippings … there were discipline in things. Parents made their kids and teachers made their kids listen. They didn’t kill them. When I got my whippings in school, it didn’t kill me. I’m not advocating the deputies to whip anybody, but the consequences of when the lights come on, they should pull over. They shouldn’t keep running. In no way did I advocate for the deputies to do anything that is harmful to anybody that is out here in Augusta County or the state of Virginia. But they should respect you and the law when they have done something wrong, all you’ve got to do is surrender. Don’t make the situation any worse than what it is. … That was my opinion, not brought on as the board’s.”
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Augusta Board of Supervisors debate police body cameras, address officers on leave
