Monday, Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, 1210 S. Eugene St., the city will hold the final community meeting on hiring a new police chief.
When the community meetings were first announced, all but one were scheduled at noon, when it is difficult for many people to attend. Two evening meetings were added.
The Monday, Oct. 7 meeting was originally planned to be a City Council District 1 forum held by Councilmember Sharon Hightower. That forum will reportedly be rescheduled, but Hightower said she would be at the police chief community meeting.
District 2 Councilmember Goldie Wells gave up a portion of her forum on Thursday, Oct. 3 to allow Assistant City Manager Trey Davis to gather input about hiring the new police chief. Wells said that so many of the police chief meetings had been during the day and she thought it was important to give the folks in District 2 another opportunity to weigh in.
One comment that has come up at community meetings is that the new police chief should release the police body worn camera footage to the public. No matter who the city hires as the new police chief, he or she can’t release police body worn camera footage, despite what has been said by some speakers at City Council meetings. By state law, only a North Carolina Superior Court judge can release police body worn camera footage. The City Council cannot change that law only the General Assembly in Raleigh can.
Another comment that has come up multiple times is that the police need to do a better job of enforcing the laws. At the discussion at the District 2 meeting one woman said that the police need to arrest people for the lesser violations and that would reduce the number of major crimes.
Monday Oct. 7 is also the last day that the online survey will be available. It can be found at http://www.empliant.com/survey/FEB7DB9A4-AEAF-9746-F5AC/
