Only 10 people applied for Raleigh’s police oversight board. The city is trying again.
Raleigh is reopening applications for its new police advisory board after getting just 10 nominations for the seven-person board.
The City Council debated the merits of a police oversight board for years before ultimately deciding to create one earlier this year.
The application period, which began in March and ended in April, coincided with the spread of the coronavirus and eventual shutdown of the state. City staff and some council members think some people who were more focused on COVID-19 would have applied to serve on the board otherwise.
“The concerns moved from police accountability to basic things like employment, safety, health,” said Audra Caesar, the executive director of the city’s Human Relations Commission, during a council meeting Tuesday.
“I am really concerned about the low turnout of applicants,” said Council member Corey Branch. “I think because of us opening this up at the same time as COVID-19, that we should ... extend the time period a little while longer.”
The city agreed to reopen the application process through the end of May.
Council member Jonathan Melton stressed the city has to seek diversity.
“I think it’s extremely important that this board has people of color, and not just people of color; it has to have African-Americans appointees,” he said. “We have to have that voice on this board.”
The new board will review existing police policies and whether those policies are being followed.
It won’t conduct investigations, hear testimony, respond to residents’ complaints or recommend disciplinary action.
Advocates who have asked for a police oversight board said what the city gave them lacks teeth.
Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown objected to the creation of an advisory board altogether.
“Part of that is simply because police, like all of you and everyone else here, we are human,” she said in May 2019. “I must ask when does performance become so restricted that officers can simply not do their jobs? They are the ones running toward danger at the risk of their own lives.”
The board is slated to have three victim advocates, a police chief appointee, an LGBTQ community member, a civil rights attorney and a mental health provider.
Soon after the council agreed to create a board, a Raleigh police officer shot and injured a 26-year-old, leading to protests in downtown. The city said the man ran toward an officer with a gun. Protesters showed up at Deck-Brown’s home, and police officers have provided security at her home ever since.
The city has also seen a number of protests and gatherings related to the spread of the coronavirus and calls to reopen the state.
And, Wednesday night, a Raleigh police officer shot and killed a robbery suspect during a shoot out. An officer injured in the shooting was released from WakeMed Hospital, The News & Observer reported.
People can apply for the board online at raleighnc.gov/police-advisory-board or by calling the city’s Office of Human Relations at 919-996-5740.
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 5:08 PM.
