Raleigh takes police oversight board to the public though some council members object
Raleigh leaders are taking the idea of a police oversight board to the community, despite some City Council members’ concerns..
Activists and community members have attended council meeting for years — most recently interrupting meetings after a fatal police shooting — to ask for an oversight board with subpoena power.
Now the city is looking at different models and plans to ask the public for its thoughts at six meetings scheduled across the city.
But council member Dickie Thompson said the city is “knuckling under pressure” from a vocal, but small group of people. An oversight board undermines the police department, he said, adding that its supporters have disrupted meetings and violated the city’s rules of decorum.
“I don’t believe in appeasing bad behavior,” he said. “Our Police Department does a good job, and I think we do have procedures in place.”
He’s said that people in North Raleigh, the area he represents, are not concerned about this issue.
Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane also has “serious reservations” about moving forward and wants to know how the city will keep one group from dominating every meeting.
“I am concerned about the message this sends to our police officers,” she said. “I don’t like sending them a message that we don’t fully support them. That is my concern with this process.”
The police force does an excellent job, said council member Corey Branch, but an oversight board could help “build a better city as we grow.” The police and their advocates can participate in the upcoming meetings to work with concerned community members, he said.
The entire country is facing these issues, said council member Russ Stephenson. The concerns in Raleigh are not an “anomaly cooked up by a few people,” he said. “This is a conversation about race and policing.”
“The simple fact is minority populations are the ones who are being shot disproportionately,” Stephenson said. “They would be the ones most interested in coming up with a solution that fixes that problem.”
Southeast Raleigh meetings
Thompson also objected to there being two community meetings planned in District C, which makes up Southeast Raleigh.
If the city is going to hold two meetings in one of the districts, then it needs to hold two meetings in all the districts, he said.
“It doesn’t look right to me,” he said. “We need to make it right.”
Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown is opposed to a review board, as is the Raleigh Police Protective Association.
“We do not support any type of review board,” said Rick Armstrong, vice president of the association. “We believe there are sufficient mechanisms in place to hold police officers accountable if they fail to follow policy or commit criminal actions. We also believe that the vast majority of the public agree with our position.”
People at the meetings will be asked if Raleigh needs a review board, to describe their ideal community and what would be the community’s goal for an oversight board.
Here is the meeting schedule:
- 6 p.m. Tuesday. Nov. 12, Sertoma Arts Center, 1400 W. Millbrook Road
- 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, Thomas Crowder Woodland Center, 5611 Jaguar Park Drive
- 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15, Laurel Hills Community Center, 3808 Edwards Mill Road
- 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18, Marsh Creek Community Center, 3050 N. New Hope Road
- 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, Tarboro Road Center, 121 N. Tarboro St.
- 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, Chavis Community Center, 505 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
This story was originally published October 15, 2019 at 7:46 PM.
