Chapel Hill police used force without warning

CHAPEL HILL -- The policy manual of the Chapel Hill Police Department says, when possible, officers should give verbal warnings before using force.

Police gave no warnings before Sunday's raid on a vacant car dealership in downtown Chapel Hill that had been overtaken by "anti-capitalist" demonstrators.

A police tactical team rushed the building, armed with semi-automatic weapons, handcuffed about 13 people and arrested seven after a group of about 70 had entered the building Saturday night.

The News & Observer requested a copy of the town's police policy manual to see what guidelines it gives for handling a situation like Sunday's.

When police have advance notice of a possible large confrontational protest, the manual says a minimum 12-member Special Emergency Response Team will be called in to assist.

The police deployed a tactical team of at least 15 officers Sunday, Police Chief Chris Blue said at a press conference Monday.

The manual describes six levels of force, ranging from an officer's mere presence on a scene to gunfire.

Handcuffing someone who is being arrested or who "presents an articulable threat to the safety of the officer or others" is the third of the six levels of force. Officers may use handcuffing, but not inflict physical pressure or pain (level 4) when the subject appears cooperative or when an officer thinks this approach can make the person compliant, the policy says.

"Do not automatically presume that a subject who initially is resistant will remain so," the manual says. "The officer should consider whether verbal persuasion or warnings will enable the officer to achieve compliance."

In capital letters after this paragraph, the manual says, "WHEN POSSIBLE, WARN BEFORE USING FORCE."

The town is conducting an internal investigation of Sunday's raid, Public Information Officer Catherine Lazorko said.

Efforts to reach Blue for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.

The chief said Monday that officers who approached the occupiers inside the former Yates Motor Co. were met with "threatening" movements and that the group was distributing violent literature and planned to hold the building "in perpetuity." Police waited until Sunday, when the crowd diminished, to take control of the building and push out its occupiers, he said.

Some Chapel Hill residents and others have questioned the police response, including the handcuffing of two journalists.

Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt has asked Town Manager Roger Stancil to investigate the reporters' detainment, but he stands by the police response.

"There was an attempt to engage on Saturday night, and there was hostilities that were presented," he said Tuesday. "I wouldn't read that manual as a checklist of things that must happen. ... I think you make reasoned assumptions based on the circumstances."

Based on the demonstrators' behavior Saturday night, "there was a sincerely held belief that they may be met with resistance, and it may not be peaceful resistance," he said. "What we had was people (who) had already committed to breaking the law. They had already done that."

Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton was across Franklin Street when he saw police take control of the building Sunday. The officers acted appropriately, he said.

"I did not see anything that was outside the standard and legally authorized use of police power," he said. "I was every bit as concerned for the safety of the police officers as I was for the safety of the protesters.

"When police go into a situation where there is some plausible reason to believe that they might meet armed resistance, they have to come prepared for the maximum level of resistance that is within the realm of plausibility," he said.