Durham police chief tells U.S. Senate panel to ban chokeholds, track officer misconduct

Durham Police Chief C.J. Davis told members of a Senate committee in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to “reimagine” policing by banning chokeholds and creating a national officer-misconduct database.

Davis offered recommendations to the Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. Those recommendations included requiring de-escalation training, accrediting police departments and creating a national standard for use of force.

“There are too many agencies in the country that are allowed to pick and choose policies. And I think that’s where inconsistency evolves,” said Davis, the president of NOBLE. “The culture of policing has to change.”

Davis spoke alongside civil-rights experts and other police chiefs about police reform measures. North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis sits on the Republican-led 22-member committee.

Tuesday’s police hearing was the committee’s first since a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd May 25 by pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck, triggering nationwide protests against police brutality and racism.

“There are many other ways to restrain an individual without placing a knee on the neck,” Davis said. “I think it would do the industry great justice and potentially shape behavior if we had national registries of officers that have patterns of misconduct.”

Justice in Policing Act

Senate Democrats on the committee advocated for the Justice in Policing Act, which was co-drafted by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and California Sen. Kamala Harris.

The act, which House Democrats plan to vote on this week, would ban chokeholds, create a national police misconduct registry and prohibit no-knock warrants in drug cases. Davis endorsed the proposals.

“This committee and our entire federal government have a role to play in holding the police accountable when they break the rules and break the law,” Harris said. “We must be on the right side of history as a committee.”

Senate Republicans want less-stringent reforms. For example, the lawmakers prefer emphasizing de-escalation over banning chokeholds.

“The time has come to create a system to combat a broken system,” said South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. “When every black man in America believes getting stopped by cops is a traumatic experience, something happened somehow somewhere.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to encourage state and local enforcement agencies to ban chokeholds and create a new credentialing process for police departments. Some of the speakers Tuesday told the committee the order was not enough to reform policing nationwide.

Davis’ other police proposals

Davis also recommended the Senate approve the Democrats’ proposal to reevaluate qualified immunity for police officers.

Qualified immunity is a federal doctrine shielding police officers from lawsuits over their conduct — including excessive use of force — as long as the officers didn’t violate “clearly established” law.

Davis said officers who lose qualified immunity should not have indemnification, meaning they should pay damages for their misconduct.

“If an officer is found to be wrong or criminally in the wrong, then they shouldn’t be protected by the department,” Davis said.

Davis also suggested that federal officials collect data about police use of force, traffic stops and pedestrian stops.

Durham police budget increasing despite defund protests

In Durham, the city approved a $70 million police budget Monday for the coming fiscal year, a slight increase. It came despite calls to reallocate department funding to help underserved communities. The city also approved a $1 million sum to fund services that can replace some current policing functions.

Davis told the Senate that Durham would see more crime if the city defunds the police department.

“I can’t imagine who the surrogates would be to take over the work that we do every day, and I don’t think this country really realizes how much work police officers do and have taken on even in the social- services realm,” Davis said.

People have taken to the streets of Durham since late May to protest racism and police violence. The protests have been largely peaceful, a marked contrast to the violence that broke out between officers and civilians at the first two Raleigh demonstrations last month.

“In the city of Durham, we have had many protesters, but few arrests, just allowing people to have space sometimes. So I think the officers and their approach has a lot to do with the outcome,” Davis told the Senate committee.

Davis said at a Durham City Council meeting June 5 that she was open to conversations about police reform. She and Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead discussed systemic racism with a group of protesters in a closed meeting earlier that day.

Durham Mayor Steve Schewel joined Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin and other state mayors earlier this month in signing a pledge from former President Barack Obama to review their police department’s use-of-force policies.

This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 1:14 PM.