Should Raleigh police use tear gas? Consider the alternatives, says chief.

The Raleigh Police Department will develop more specific rules for controlling crowds, including whether to use tear gas, after criticism of its response to protests against police brutality last spring.

The department responded Monday to a consultant’s recommendations after Police Chief Cassandra-Deck-Brown requested an outside review of her agency’s handling of protests May 30 through June 7.

The consultant, 21CP Solutions, made 39 policy recommendations, which the chief said the department had either completed or would complete in 30 to 90 days.

Several recommendations concerned tear gas, which before last spring, the department had last used in 1968 and 1974, so it “is not a widely or frequently used tool,” Deck-Brown noted in a memo to City Manager Ruffin Hall and Assistant City Manager Marchell Adams-David.

“Policy and procedure specifically dictate when such tear gas deployments should occur, and this policy, in the case of the initial deployment on Sunday, May 31, was not followed properly,” the memo noted.

But when used properly, tear gas can keep officers from getting hurt and property from being damaged, the chief wrote.

The consultants recommended that the police work with the city and community to decide when and whether to continue using tear gas.

The department will do this by April 1, Deck-Brown wrote.

But she cautioned that not using tear gas could mean using other tools when officers are attacked by people wielding rocks, skateboards and homemade explosives..

Alternatives include officers’ batons, “which creates a concern for both optics and the impact of physical injury,” the chief stated. “The injuries stand to become far greater, potentially for both the protester and the officer, by removing the availability of a munitions option.”

The Police Department will also revise the current policy to state “the chief or his/her designee” will be directly responsible for authorizing the use of tear gas and other crowd-control munitions.

The Wake County Sheriff’s Office also deployed tear gas against protesters, and the consultant’s report recommended the Police Department review its mutual aid agreements to make sure they adequately address “the commitment, scope and general procedures for all parties.”

Another area of concern was body-worn cameras.

In footage the city released to the public in September, several officers are heard speaking derisively and making jokes about protesters.

One riding in an all-terrain vehicle used to catch and arrest protesters commented: “As much as I love chasing people down on foot, it’s so much fun watching them run when we’re in the gator,” The News & Observer reported.

“21CP Solutions indicated that, during their one-on-one sessions with RPD officers, many were skeptical about and/or opposed to receiving discipline when body-worn cameras captured inappropriate comments during non-public facing interaction,” according to Deck-Brown’s memo. “Moving forward, the RPD has taken steps to assist officers in remembering to deactivate their body-worn cameras when engaging in private, non-public facing conversations.”

The department will “remind officers to deactivate” their cameras in staging areas and when they are returning from “deployment.” The city will also revise its policy on when body cameras should be turned on during assemblies, pickets and protests.

Ten recommendations have been completed including creating an audit of inventory of tear gas, foam batons or projectiles used during protests, filling an internal communication specialist position and ensuring its police attorney advises command staff “on key matters of consideration during protests.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 2:53 PM.