The Town of Chapel Hill passed a resolution to create reform of its police department’s activities, prohibiting certain uses of force and ending traffic stops for low-level violations.
The Chapel Hill Town Council adopted a resolution at its final meeting before a summer break on Wednesday aimed to develop new community approaches to public safety and improve racial equity.
Stating that Black lives matter and that both racial bias and institutional racism must be critically examined in Chapel Hill, the resolution makes changes to its police department’s uses of force policies by banning chokeholds and only authorizing deadly force when there is “clear and convincing evidence of imminent threat of death or serious physical injury.”
In addition, the town council requests Chapel Hill Police include clear accountability for officers who violate its policies regarding its required dash and body cameras or who fail to intervene and report violations committed by other officers.
Regulatory traffic stops for low-level and non-moving violations that do not address public safety are also to be ended, according to the resolution. Data across North Carolina reveals these stops often highlight racial disparities, a 400 percent difference between how often white and Black drivers are stopped. The Chapel Hill Town Council’s new measure requests the police department focus its traffic stop efforts on safety-driven incidents, like speeding violations or running red lights.
The resolution also requests the Town Manager collect data on the police department’s staffing, 911 call data, Crisis Unit activity, reasons for deployment of the tactical response team and more. After compiling that data over the summer, a report on such information will be shared to council and published on the town’s website by September.
“We commit to acquiring and distributing the information needed to inform a data-driven and transparent process for long-term change,” reads the Chapel Hill resolution.
The council’s actions come less than one week after the Town of Carrboro passed a similar resolution, which also banned chokeholds, requested in-depth reports and created a task force to study public safety.
To read the Chapel Hill Town Council’s full resolution, visit the town’s website.
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