Durham review board wants these changes after police drew guns and handcuffed teen
A city review board says the Durham Police Department should make internal investigations more public and consider an officer’s pointing a gun at someone a use of force. It also wants an expanded definition of unbecoming conduct for officers.
Police should demonstrate “the highest level of dignity and respect in tone, delivery, and language in their communications and interactions with citizens regardless of their race, creed, color, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or any other characteristics or identification,” the recommendations from the Durham Civilian Police Review Board state.
The 18 recommendations follow a hearing the board held in June to review an incident in which an officer pointed his gun and chased a 15-year-old boy at a Durham apartment complex last summer.
Board Chair DeWarren Langley declined to comment on the recommendations, saying they speak for themselves.
“I think they explain the perspective of the board,” he said Wednesday.
Police body-camera video footage shows an officer pointing his gun and chasing the teen, who then lies face down on the concrete.
The teen was handcuffed and patted down by police, but he was not charged with any crimes.
Police later said they had received a call about someone in a tank top holding a gun. The teen was wearing a tank top.
He, his mother and other community members were outraged at the use of force used on the teen, who said he was running while playing tag with other kids.
After an internal investigation by the police department’s Professional Standards Division, Officer Z.B. Starritt was suspended without pay for one day.
No disciplinary power
The civilian review board has no power to discipline or reprimand an officer. It can only examine the Police Department’s investigation of a complaint, not the complaint itself.
The board issued its findings and recommendations to City Manager Wanda Page and Interim Police Chief Shari Montgomery in a June 30 memo.
The News & Observer obtained the memo through a public information request. The board’s findings, which ran about a page, were redacted, or blacked out, but the recommendations were included.
Montgomery responded in an Aug. 6 memo, replying to each recommendation and explaining current policies.
The review board recommended the city classify an officer pointing a gun at someone as a use of force.
Montgomery responded that officers in those situations must complete a “show of force” report, which is investigated just like use-of-force incidents.
Montgomery agreed with the board’s recommendation that the city ban officers from using the phrase “wife beater” to describe suspects wearing a white tank top undershirt.
“The Police Department whole-heartedly agrees and has taken steps to address this concern with department commanders,” she wrote.
The department is also updating rules to prohibit the use of abusive and profane language, which has already been implemented, as well as expand language about the professionalism of officers interacting with individuals, the interim chief’s memo states.
The review board also recommended officers leave their body cameras on at all times, except for personal breaks. Montgomery wrote that officers are supposed to have their cameras on when investigating potential crimes and related interactions, but the cameras’ battery life won’t last an entire shift.
The recommendations also said police should provide more information and assistance to people complaining about officers and provide more evidence to the civilian review board. Montgomery replied that Professional Standards officials give complainants contact information for police officials and provide information to the board allowed by law.
The board also recommended that police investigators ask witnesses, officers and others more open-ended questions, but Montgomery said that information isn’t always preferred.
“While neutral and open-ended questions are preferable and comprise the majority of any investigation, leading questions are not always inappropriate and may be useful to address uncontested background issues, steer the witness away from irrelevant matters, elicit statements from an adverse witness or to develop a witness testimony,” she wrote.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
