Hillsborough Police Chief Duane Hampton released a statement addressing a recent interaction of Hillsborough Police Department officers with a man that led to a Facebook video criticizing the officers.
The statement said the department’s officers acted correctly when responding to a larceny in process call from Wednesday, January 22, and engaging with its subject. A video shared on Facebook by the subject afterward claimed the officers were confrontational, disrespectful and demeaning. Wednesday’s release said after a review of body camera footage of the officers involved, the police department determined it did not agree with the claims made by the subject.
Hampton said Hillsborough Police began its review of the events upon discovery of the Facebook video, which was shared onto a private Facebook page called Hillsborough NC Community Info.
“At no time did the officers appear angry, disrespectful or demeaning to the citizen,” he said. “They were polite and professional throughout the encounter, and they repeatedly tried to explain why they were there and to answer his questions. When the encounter was over, the primary officer apologized twice.”
According to Hampton, police received a 911 call from someone in the Hampton Pointe Boulevard Walmart, who said they believed a person they saw planned to steal something from the store. Three officers responded, with two approaching the subject as he prepared to leave and asked him questions. The interaction lasted just more than nine minutes and officers told the subject he was free to leave.
In the release, Hampton acknowledged how being approached by officers, especially when it is determined that no crime has occurred, is embarrassing. He said, however, the 911 caller’s concerns about the subject were not purely based on race and officers heard from others in the store that corroborated the caller’s accounts.
“It is inappropriate and wrong for officers to be called just because an African-American man is in a store too long,” said Hampton. “That is not what happened in this situation. The 9-1-1 caller described specific behaviors that led him to believe the subject was attempting to steal. Additionally, after the primary officer disengaged from the encounter, he learned there were others in the store who had witnessed the subject’s behaviors and believed he may have been trying to attempt a theft.”
Hampton reminded Hillsborough residents to use the department’s “robust” complaint process in which messages can filed in many ways, including anonymously and through a third party. He said the resident who posted the video has not contacted Hillsborough Police about his experience and invited him to meet and watch the body camera footage together to review the incident.
The release ended with Hampton stressing the importance of having conversations about existing tensions between law enforcement and those who fear officers. He said, though, the conversations should not cast his officers or others into an undeserved, negative light.
“We recognize that some members of our community feel fear and concern about interacting with law enforcement and that these feelings may be based on their own experiences and the bad, even tragic, experiences that people have had across our country when dealing with law enforcement,” said Hampton. “However, to have the actions of officers publicly mischaracterized in a negative way also contributes to and perpetuates this fear, and that is not acceptable. The officers in this situation responded appropriately and did not behave in the manner portrayed.”
Chapelboro has not had the ability to review the video on the private Facebook page.
The full statement from Chief Hampton can be found on the Town of Hillsborough website.
Photo via Hillsborough Police Department.
The article about the Hillsborough Police Chief statement includes two inaccuracies. Details and assumptions people make will be very important. Nowhere does he say the citizen who was complaining about the officers was a town resident. And also he does not say the other people in the store that shared information with the officer were shoppers.
Please be careful making assumptions as people will take what you report as facts.
Thank you to the resident who reported the possible theft. And thank you to the officers who responded to a citizen’s concerns. We have a great community, it takes good people to keep it that way.