It's fitting that Chapel Hill, a center of learning, is trying to learn from the Nov. 13 incident in which local police - heavily armed and clad in riot gear - arrested several squatters inside a former auto dealership downtown. Last week town officials and residents devoted hours to the police action and its aftermath, and they've made progress.
For one thing, the Town Council voted, albeit by a narrow majority, to apologize "for the actions taken against the press on November 13." The reference was, mainly, to police treatment of N&O reporter Katelyn Ferral, who was stationed outside the dealership building. Ferral showed her press credentials to officers but was forced to the ground, handcuffed and detained nonetheless.
It was appropriate for the town to apologize for that and, equally important, to clarify things so that in the future reporters and photographers are able to do their jobs while the authorities are doing theirs. Police Chief Chris Blue says the town is developing a new policy; he should make sure its details are made public before it's adopted.
As expected, an official town government report on the Nov. 13 arrests defends the police department's decision to evict the squatters, most of whom had been attending an anarchist gathering in Carrboro, by using what amounted to a display of overwhelming force - based on fear that the building's unauthorized occupiers might become violent.
Second-guessing the police, especially after the incident ended with no injuries (and no weapons found in the building), is easy, but caution is always called for in evaluating tough decisions made on the fly.
Still, nothing that's been made public since November alters the view here that barging in with loaded assault-style rifles and at least one pointed pistol was an over-the-top response. The situation could have been handled with less drama; that it wasn't has to be chalked up as an anarchist victory of sorts.
Now a previously appointed citizens committee on policing will take up the town's report, with an eye to gathering more comment and reporting back. The Town Council decided, sensibly, that with this committee already in place there was no need to name a separate study group.
The Community Policing Advisory Committee has a lot to assess, regarding both the Nov. 13 arrests and the police Special Emergency Response Team that carried them out. It should go over the ground carefully and then issue a full report, so that the lessons learned won't be forgotten.
