Report: Racial bias exists within Durham Police Department
Racial bias and profiling does exist within the Durham Police Department, according to a new report from a 15-member panel commissioned by the city's mayor to look into complaints on the matter.
Posted — UpdatedIn October, Durham Mayor Bill Bell asked the 15-member panel of residents to look into allegations after scrutiny about how police officers handled a series of highly publicized incidents, including the shooting of a distraught 26-year-old black man in a downtown plaza.
The six-month review was based on a series of public hearings, interviews with police department representatives, community advocacy groups and residents.
Among them:
- Implementing diversity, mental health and crisis intervention training for new police recruits and enhancing training for current officers
In an Oct. 31 report to Durham's city manager, the police department said that it doesn't deny that racial bias might exist among some police officers, but it denies "the existence of any pattern, practice, culture or tolerance for bias-based policing."
“There is as much racial bias in the police department as there is in any organization," Police Chief Jose Lopez said Thursday. "If we discover it, we work to address it."
Some of the recommendations, such as diversity training, he said, are things the police department is already doing. He declined to comment further, saying he is waiting to see what action city leaders might take on the recommendations.
Daryl Atkinson, an attorney for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and a member of the community group Fostering Alternative Drug Enforcement, says he thinks the report and set of recommendations are an important step for the community.
"People in the most directly impacted community should feel a sense of validation because this has been their life experience day in and day out," Atkinson said. "This is nothing new to them."
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