June 10, 2020

Yesterday, with the support of the City Council, Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown announced the adoption of several new policies, including a ban on chokeholds and strangleholds, to bring our City in alignment with Campaign Zero’s 8 Can’t Wait recommendations for policing. We appreciate the sense of urgency and the transparency with which this was done. The City plans to post police policies on our website shortly for the public to review and is also engaging an independent group of experts to review the police response to the protests. 

I want to thank all who have and continue to reach out, advocate, and make their voices heard on these and many other needed reforms. We’re listening, we hear you, and we know this is not enough. This is only the first step of a larger conversation we must continue to have on how we increase accountability and transparency – and build a city that is safe and equitable for our black community. I look forward to discussing the next steps, such as how we can reallocate resources within our police department to add more civilian social workers to aid our homeless community and those who need mental health support. We will also make appointments to our new Police Advisory Board at our meeting on June 16, which will begin reviewing police use of force policies when they convene. 

As I said last week, we are living in an important time in history and that becomes clearer every day. I’m committed to working with our City Council and all of you to seize this moment to create real, lasting change in our community. We have a lot of work to do. 

Stay safe and please continue to practice social distancing, wear a face covering, and wash your hands to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.