2 Raleigh police board members quit, citing lack of support from city leaders

Board Chairwoman Shelia Khashoggi confirmed that she received letters of resignation from Vice Chairwoman Scotia Burrell and Stacey Carless, who previously served as board secretary.

"I really wish that they could've decided to stay and been part of the solution," Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said.

In separate letters, both dated Wednesday, that WRAL News obtained, Burrell and Carless questioned the leadership structure of the board, its place within Raleigh's city government and its ability to carry out its mission.

"Unfortunately, my experience with the current leadership structure of this board has been negative," Carless wrote. "I cannot continue to be part of a leadership team where there is blatant disrespect of others on the team and deceit."

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Burrell cited "guarded and defense attitudes" toward the board within city government, and she said she doesn't feel that City Manager Marchell Adams-David nor Audrea Caesar, who heads Raleigh's Office of Equity and Inclusion, act as neutral parties when it comes to providing board members the information they need to work. Both Caesar and the police chief report to Adams-David.

"The city manager, who manages both [the Raleigh Police Department] and the Office of Equity and Inclusion, spoke on behalf of RPD" during a recent meeting, Burrell wrote, "in a way that makes it impossible for me to see her office/role as a neutral one."

Police department leaders fought the idea of an outside advisory board for years, and it was set up only to review departmental policies and bridge gaps between the department and the community, not investigate any complaints against officers.

Baldwin said she never saw anything to indicate that city officials favored the police department in the dealings with the advisory board.

"We have work to do, and the board was appointed to help us do that work," she said. "We want them to influence policy. Sometimes, the best advice is the advice you don’t want to hear, but that could make the difference, and that’s their job."

Burrell also contended that Khashoggi was willing to defer to Baldwin or Adams-David over the board's concerns rather than stand up for a board "that has been scrambling for any semblance of power, independence and transparency."

Khashoggi said she is committed to staying in her position and that the board is very new and, with that, comes growing pains. She said that she believes the board will have the power it needs to make real change down the road.