The Greensboro City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday, June 2 to hold a work session within two weeks on the police policy on descriptions of people stopped as a result of calls to 911.
Councilmember Justin Outling made the motion, “that within the next two weeks we have a work session virtually where the city manager, the Police Department and staff advises us on the policies, procedures and any possible improvements to ensure that not only are we being fair but we are not subjecting our entire community to stops and enhanced risks when we can avoid it by simply requesting additional information.”
The motion is the response to an event that occurred on the Bicentennial Greenway in May. In that instance, Greensboro police officers stopped a black male high school student who was running with his uncle on the Greenway and searched and questioned him in response to a 911 call about someone on the Greenway pointing what appeared to the caller to be a toy gun at cars.
Outling said that the caller to 911 provided, “Almost no information beyond the clothing, the race and the object that it was suspected the person was holding.”
After the student was stopped and his parents and others were trying to figure out why, Outling said he was told it was because the young man met the racial description, black, and that was considered enough.
Outling said if that is indeed the policy, that “Greensboro could have a scenario in which based on a single description” the police would be justified in stopping his 9-year-old son, Outling himself and his grandfather because they would meet the racial description although the three obviously have many other very different physical characteristics.
Outling said, “Are we uniquely stopping persons of color, black children, when we otherwise wouldn’t do that for other children in our community.”
He said, “We need to make sure that we do right for all of our community.”
Outling has often asked for work sessions on topics, has been assured they would be held but they never were. In this case, Outling made the motion and the City Council voted unanimously to hold the work session he requested, but only time will tell if that work session is every held.
Why don’t we start by getting access to the police department’s call notes and the 911 call recording? I very much doubt anyone said, “let’s stop all the black males.” Then, out of everyone there, including this kid’s uncle, who I must assume is also a black male, the police only chose to interact with the ONE individual for “no reason”? If there were a purely racial element involved, would they not have detained and frisked all black males present? It seems to me that Outling is jumping to conclusions, AKA stereotyping, at best..the very thing he is accusing police of doing. Interesting.
Mr. Outling, before we get society hyped up and waste a bunch of taxpayer time and money, let us at least do some basic research and not go off of something you were told second hand.
If the council wants to do anything about the institutional racism discussed in Tuesday’s meeting, they will support Councilmember Outling and have that work session about the criteria for police stops. That should satisfy the call for a taskforce. And it should start NOW, not later.
The clothing, the race, and being on the greenway at the time of the complaint should justify the police asking questions. There is nothing wrong with this practice. If that is all the information given, the police had to start somewhere. No one was arrested or hurt. Had this been me, I would not have objected to the police asking me a few questions. How do you thing police investigations are carried out; especially when there is little to go on in describing a potential suspect. As long as the public cooperates with the police department, then crime is reduced. When all that happens when someone is questioned is to scream “profiling” or other accusations, there can be no protection and no arrests for crimes that are committed.
I have to say I was completely ignorant of the example that Mr Outing gave. It is like a bulb went off over my head. When a witness gives a description of a white man or boy, it usually follows with blond hair, mustache or some other physical description , when its a black man or boy that’s usually all they give other than maybe clothes. So the police look for a white man , with red hair and fair skin ( telling ya right now, that leaves me out , i would not be stopped) or another description , a black man . What?? Leaves open a lot of doors. Thanks for sharing Mr Outing , I really do.
But Outling is not giving you facts. By his own admission, he is just telling you what he heard second hand. Let’s get the facts first.
If I had to describe my black friends beyond the basic “he’s black,” I wouldn’t have much to say. OTOH, I wouldn’t do much better with my white friends. I spent an hour with my black daughter this morning, and I could at least say sort of what she was wearing, that her hair was in a ponytail, and that she wears wire rimmed glasses, but that’s about as far as I could go. Come to think of it, I do know her weight and approximate height. I’d also say that she’s very attractive.