Race and policing are topics that have often been discussed together in the past five years regarding inconsistencies in arrests, searches and traffic stops.

Law enforcement in Orange County are already beginning a pilot program that police say is meant to push towards the end of racial profiling. But they also held a forum on “Policing, Race and Community” public to any who wanted to be there.

“This is something that’s been going on for a long time,” said Orange Chatham District Attorney Jim Woodall in his remarks opening the forum. “It’s not anything new. Maybe it’s boiled to the surface a little more in the last couple of years, but it’s something that’s been around for a long time and these are issues we need to confront.”

Woodall said that if Orange County sets an example of police relations with the community, it could make it easier for the rest of the state, then country, to follow suit.

“This isn’t just about Chapel Hill and Carrboro,” he said. “This area, Chatham County, Siler City, Pittsboro, Hillsborough, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, if there’s anywhere in the state that can address these issues and show leadership, where better than here?”

But Carrboro Alderwoman and panelist Michelle Johnson said it will take a lot of work. She said her car was pulled over about a month and a half ago, a week after two black men were killed.

“I got stopped because my registration sticker wasn’t on my car, but it was in my glove compartment,” she said. “And I went to reach for my glove compartment and I froze; because I was afraid of what would happen if I moved too quickly.”

Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue was also a panelist. He said police, as part of the pilot program in Chapel Hill, will begin monitoring the racial disparities at traffic stops. But he said communication and getting to know town residents personally can help solve misconceptions about one another. He said the police department will also be looking into options other than arrest for minor offenses.

“The more we contact each other, the more we know each other, the more perceptions can be addressed, the more misperceptions can be dispelled,” Blue said. “And I think one of the things we really need to focus on is finding ways to have interactions with each other across the community, across all kinds of systems that are not at the point of having to make law enforcement decisions. Find ways to know each other before you get to that point.”

Orange County Sheriff and panelist Charles Blackwood said miscommunication is much of what causes arguments between police and community members. He said things as simple as the voice tone taken with people police pull over can dramatically change the entire conversation.

“I’ve seen some horrible arguments on the side of the road starting from an officer very snappingly saying, ‘You know why I stopped you? Do you have a driver’s license?’” Blackwood said. “Worst fights ever. Over a stop sign? So it is training that we are ongoing with and I think it’s proven to be very fruitful.”

But EmPOWERment, Inc. Executive Director Delores Bailey says it’s one thing to talk about changing the conversation. But it’s another to enforce it.

“Reality is, what’s going to be different when Delores Bailey gets in her car, and she gets stopped, am I going to be afraid?” She said. “And that man is going to walk up to me and he’s not going to do what Sheriff Blackwood would do. He’s not going to say, ‘Delores, shouldn’t have run that stop sign.’ That’s what Sheriff Blackwood would have said. That officer is going to approach me and say to me, “You know what you did wrong?” That’s where he’s going to come from.”

Blackwood closed his remarks to the forum by agreeing. He said no matter what, things need to change within law enforcement in order to overcome these biases.

“We’ve got to do something different than what we’ve been doing,” he said. “The fast path of doing things the way they’ve been done just because that’s the way they’ve been done ain’t working no more. So let’s not snicker about this. It’s serious stuff. And we want to make a difference.”

Orange County is beginning to work on changes in policing, as CHPD begins its pilot program in the next few weeks. Officers will be required to wear body cameras, provide written documentation for vehicle searches in which an officer requests to search but doesn’t have probable cause, and address enforcement for minor offenses. Police Officers will also be required to attend racial equity training.