By Joel Brown
RALEIGH (WTVD) --
Raleigh City Council got an
earful Monday night about how to reform the city's police department.
Community activists aligned with
the group PACT led the charge. The Police Accountability and Community Task
Force is more than a year old, but the deadly police shooting of Akiel Denkins
in southeast Raleigh on Feb. 29, gave the group renewed purpose.
Outside City Hall, the group came
bearing signs. Some read, "Justice for Akiel" and "Black Lives
Matter." But the group also came to deliver a petition, a list of demands
to reform Raleigh PD.
"We as the citizens of
Raleigh ask for transparency! That is why we ask for a seat at the table to
decide the oversight board," said Kimberly Muktarian at a rally before the
meeting.
When the public-hearing portion
began, they came one by one to bring their demands to city councilors. They
want a community oversight board with subpoena power to hold officers
accountable. They want officers to make marijuana possession a lower-level
priority.
"Wake County arrest data
shows that black people are going to jail for possession of small amounts of
marijuana at significant higher rates," said Geraldine Alshamy as she
addressed the council.
The group applauded the city's
move to start a five-year pilot program to equip every officer with a body
camera. But they want the city to immediately begin drawing up rules of the
road for the body-camera program. They expressed concerns about privacy for
victims of domestic-violence calls, and they want public access to the videos.
"At the very least, the
subjects of any recordings should have access to those recordings, ideally a
copy of those recordings," said Sarah Preston with ACLU of North Carolina.
Raleigh City Attorney Thomas
McCormick raised objections about whether City Council has the authority to
grant subpoena power to a community oversight board.
"We agree with the comments
made by the city attorney," said Matt Cooper, President of the Raleigh
Police Protective Association, the police union.
Cooper also agreed with McCormick
that city councilors, the grand jury, and independent investigators at the SBI
provide more than enough accountability for his officers.
"We would like to say that
issues and perceived problems in other areas of the country are not indicative
of what is going on in the city of Raleigh," Cooper said
The ACLU concedes a community
oversight board with subpoena power for investigations would likely require
legislation from the General Assembly. And, that is unlikely to happen. But the
ACLU points to cities such as Greensboro, which has a city staff sit on its
civilian review board for police that can issue subpoenas.
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