A quarterly report chronicling statistics of certain minor misdemeanors has been released by the Chapel Hill Police Department.
Statistics recorded in the report include use of force and gender, race and ethnicity of minor crimes such as misdemeanor marijuana charges, no operator license charges and traffic stop data.
Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue claimed that the police department is still learning how to best report information like this to the community.
“It is a report that I can imagine over time will change based on community interest, based on things that we think are worth a closer look, and where we here from our community more information is desired,” said Blue.
Blue believes that this information becoming public will help reveal any possible disparities in the way the police department deals with the public.
“Who are the people we’re charging and are there any disparities there, unintended or other wise as the result of our efforts? I think the best way to get at that is put those numbers out there and have a community conversation about it, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” said Blue.
The report in full, which is the second of its kind, is available on the Town of Chapel Hill’s website.
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