CITY OF RALEIGH NORTH CAROLINA
INTER-OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE
TO:
Marche11 Adams-David, Assistant City Manager
FROM:
Deputy Chief J.C. Perry Raleigh Police Dept.
DATE:
May 25, 2016
SUBJECT:
Response to Police Accountability Community Task Force (PACT)
MESSAGE: This memorandum provides a response to policy recommendations made to the Raleigh City Council by PACT last month, a coalition of community-based groups. The coalition mentioned four broad, but specific areas it felt should be addressed. They are as follows: Accountability: PACT recommended the creation of a Community Oversight Board that would have the power to investigate, subpoena, and discipline officers. This issue was recently addressed by the City Attorney during a meeting of the Raleigh City Council. As indicated by the City Attorney, the formation of such a board would require legislative action. The Raleigh Police Department has long had an Internal Affairs Unit that promptly and thoroughly investigates allegations of police misconduct. Oversight of the Internal Affairs Unit is directly handled by the Major of the Professional Standards Division, Deputy Chief of Police, and the Chief of Police. This comprehensive system has worked to ensure officer accountability and police integrity for many years. Citizen complaints, uses of force, and policy violations are formally tracked, and discipline is administered to those officers who have violated departmental directives and/or NC general statutes. Disciplinary measures range from verbal warnings up to and including termination and criminal prosecution. Any investigations conducted by the Internal Affairs Unit that concern potential criminal violations are reviewed by the Wake County District Attorney's Office, and it is the DA's Office that determines if charges are appropriate. The NC State Bureau of Investigation handles all investigations related to police shootings and in-custody deaths, and the SBI's findings concerning those incidents are presented directly to the District Attorney. It is the District Attorney that ultimately determines whether or not charges are appropriate. Like many metro police departments, the Raleigh Police Department has a non-biased policing policy, RPD D.O.I. 1100-04. It specifically defines the strictly limited circumstances in which race or other identifiable group descriptors can be used as a factor to establish reasonable suspicion or probable cause. The policy also reinforces procedures that direct officers to conduct themselves in ways that serve to assure the public that we are providing service and enforcing