Chapel Hill bans chokeholds in all cases after council calls for stronger policy
Update: The story was updated Sept. 17 at 9:20 a.m. after the Chapel Hill Police Department clarified the wording of its policy to completely ban chokeholds.
The Chapel Hill Town Council made Juneteenth a paid holiday and set a course for working with a task force on racial equity in policing and public safety.
The council also revisited the issue of banning chokeholds after members learned the police department had not completely banned them. In June, in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, Chapel Hill voted to ban police chokeholds, end regulatory traffic stops, create an accountability policy for officers, and adopt goals for dismantling structural racism and bias.
But the town, in a news release on Sept. 16, said it “fell short in implementing the Council’s stated intention of banning chokeholds in all situations.” The town has updated the town’s policy, officials said.
The new policy states: “We recognize that there are certain circumstances where the risk to the public and the preservation of life is paramount and must be taken into consideration. The use of neck restraints, carotid restraints and chokeholds restrict the blood flow to the brain and may cause unconsciousness or death. Therefore, they are specifically prohibited.”
Meanwhile, the unanimous vote on Juneteenth, which celebrates the freeing of enslaved people, came with little discussion. Governments in Carrboro, Hillsborough, Durham, Raleigh, and Orange and Wake counties also voted this summer to make June 19 a paid staff holiday. Durham County could consider the move later this year.
The celebration recognizes the events of June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers delivered the news in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had ended and slaves were free. The news arrived two months after the war ended and more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
Currently, 47 states observe Juneteenth as a ceremonial holiday, including North Carolina, and it has been an official state holiday in Texas since 1980. Hawaii, North Dakota and South Dakota do not recognize Juneteenth.
Chokeholds, police use of force
Black Lives Matter protests since the death of George Floyd and other Black people killed by law enforcement officers have pushed local governments to look more closely at issues of diversity, inclusiveness, and racial and social equity.
Council member Karen Stegman and others took issue Sept. 9, with Police Chief Chris Blue’s update on his department’s revised use of force policy, which does not ban chokeholds but defines them as “deadly force.” Deadly force may be used in case of an immediate threat of death or serious injury to the officer or another person, the policy states.
That is consistent with policies nationwide, Blue said, noting his department does not train officers to use chokeholds or endorse their use.
But that’s not what the council asked for, Stegman said. She and others admonished Blue for not seeking the council’s input first.
“There’s quite a long list of cities across the country who have banned chokeholds completely because of the patterns we’ve been seeing,” Stegman said. “I think we’ve seen it used so many times across the country inappropriately and with tragic results, and I think that was the council’s intent was to say, no, we don’t want this, period.”
Chapel Hill police ended regulatory traffic stops for vehicle-registration and equipment problems, even though other places have not taken that step, Council member Allen Buansi added.
“I just wonder about the inconsistency here, where with the chokehold prohibition language, you all have said that that is inconsistent with surrounding jurisdictions, and yet with the prohibition on low-level regulatory stops, no other jurisdiction does that,” Buansi told Blue.
Those are two separate issues, Town Manager Maurice Jones said, without elaborating. He suggested bringing the policy back to a future council meeting for discussion.
The new language and revised policy can be found on the department’s website.
Racial equity, safety task force
Another council goal set in June was to establish a task force to look at policing and public safety issues.
Applications for the 13-member Reimagining Community Safety Task Force will be accepted through Sept. 28. The town wants diverse candidates whose voices aren’t typically heard, Jones said, and is offering to help with child care, internet access or other challenges.
The council could appoint task force members and two alternates in early October, and expects a report from the group by March.
Buansi, Stegman and council members Michael Parker and Amy Ryan will refine the task force goals over the next few weeks, and the town will get independent consultants to also weigh in, Jones said.
The task force’s work could include reviewing public safety policies, reimagining the Police Department, recommending how to allocate town resources, and working with the county and other partners to identify racial equity goals and investments.
Its members also will consult with the public and community partners over the next several months through a series of virtual listening sessions and other events. A website already has been posted with information about police department policies, accountability procedures, and staffing, 911 calls, traffic stops and budgets, Jones said.
The website does not include data about the department’s use of force, which is posted quarterly on the Professional Standards page.
Residents called the plan for the task force a good step, although some urged the town to ensure a wide variety of voices are heard.
Paris Miller, vice chair of the town’s Community Policing Advisory Committee, reminded the council about a June letter from CPAC seeking a key role in the elimination of systemic racism and inequity.
“CPAC finds it imperative to be included in any and all conversations related to the development of resolutions aimed to address law enforcement, Chapel Hill PD and community safety within our town,” Miller said. “CPAC wants to be on the front end of discussions, playing a formal consulting, drafting and developing role, and not relegated to a role of just simple review.”
Members of the Orange County Anti-Bias Policing Coalition also have expertise to share, said James Williams, a former chief public defender and the coalition’s chair since 2015. He urged the council to take actions that actually will make a difference.
“When I became aware that town was going to be drafting a resolution, one of the thoughts that crossed my mind was that I hope that this is not just going to just become a time for words and platitudes, but that this was going to be a time to take some significant actions to address issues of policing and racial equity and public safety within this community,” Williams said.
What he has learned so far about the task force “provides me with some level of comfort that this matter is going to receive the serious attention that it deserves,” he said.
Task force applications
More information about the Reimagining Community Safety Task Force and a link to apply online can be found at tinyurl.com/yybgeroj.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 9:18 AM.
