Elizabeth City press conference on shooting of Andrew Brown Jr.

off camera or away from this but I did not

want to take away from this opportunity to thank you

all so much

I just want to remind everybody and those who are

not from this area that we are the harbor of

hospitality

We are a friendly town and a good town to

live in

I have been here all my life so I know

when times like this happened it kind of overshadows the

goodness

But I am quick to remind you that this too

shall pass

Now

We've shared with you all that we know uh and

we want to let you know and we're talking about

the citizens of Elizabeth city that we support you and

uh that we are actually supporting the protesters as well

because that's your right

But we are demanding that we have transparency and accountability

That is important if our citizens are going to trust

the elected officials and those who are in law enforcement

So I thank you all for showing up and helping

us get our message out

And I would like to leave you with this expression

May God continue to bless each and every one of

you and a peace and harmony be the foremost in

our minds

Thank you and have a great day conversations did you

have with county officials including the Sheriff's department perhaps regarding

body camera footage prior to yesterday's emergency meeting Any discussions

with them I don't know where they are

I have not had any discussions whatsoever

It is not that haven't reached out because we have

had to emergency meetings

The first one of course was on the same day

of the incident

And um we are live stream

All of our council meetings are live stream

And right now you can go to the website of

our city which is sitting etc

Dot com and you can pull up those videos and

see that we have been reaching out now

We this is the first time that we have come

before you physically

But that was purposely as I said earlier I wanted

to give them a chance to have control of the

narrative because it was not our department that was involved

personally know the Brown family

Have you spoken to them since Wednesday on yesterday I

met three of the members of the brown family when

we had our meeting here seeing the body cam video

And if not do you wish to see it I

have not seen it

But if our council has solicited solicited it and if

we get it uh I will watch it

Say if the video shows questionable carrying out of laws

that there will be accountability for those deputies

Well I don't want to go there

And the reason is because there is an investigation that

is very fluid

I don't have any idea of what went down

I don't know what they're doing now

So I'm not going to address that at this point

You know anything about the reasoning behind multiple deputy is

resigning

Like shortly after this incident occurred

I don't know any more about it than you do

I'm sorry

I hate to seem like I'm being vague but they

have not shared with us

And I don't know the reason

What's the relationship like with what's the relationship like I

mean normally towns and the Sheriff's department they have to

collaborate

What is the what is the relationship like right now

between Elizabeth City Police and the Sheriff's department Is their

animosity is there I'm going to step back and let

our chief address that there's no animosity between the police

department or the sheriff's office

We work in conjunction together but in this particular case

uh we were not participating in that particular investigation or

case arrest or execution of the search warrant

You had mentioned chief

This is also for you you had mentioned that you

know because it's the weekend more protesters could be coming

maybe people from out of town

Do you have indication or how concerned are you that

protests like this could be and forgive the expression but

may be hijacked by a greater cause or a greater

agenda instead of the locals you know speaking up for

themselves

So that's a two part question

I'm gonna answer the first part and I'm allowed to

cheat to answer the second part

As a manager I am tasked with protecting the citizens

of Elizabeth City and the visitors of Elizabeth City

So I'm not adverse to visitors coming in and joining

this very viable and fluid protests

I will continue to issue directives to protect them as

well

However my ass is that if someone decides to be

adverse to a peaceful protest and then our officers have

to engage that then it takes away from it becomes

a distraction from the matter at hand

And the matter at hand is the transparency and accountability

of what took place on Wednesday morning

At the root of all of this is someone lost

their life A citizen of mine lost his life his

kids lost their father their family members lost their brother

their friends lost a friend

I have employees that work here in the city who

were friends with

And so the root of all of this is that

um and I just want to do my part to

issue directives to make sure that all people not just

the citizens of Elizabeth City but those who choose not

to March and just want you go to work and

make sure they leave in time to drive around the

march to allow for a peaceful protest and create a

buffer around those people so that they are safe and

they don't feel retaliation or that the city is not

supporting them

That's what I'm focusing on now

I will allow to achieve to talk through from a

subject matter expert standpoint what the weekend means from a

policing standpoint

Thank you

Oh we we are prepared

Uh and we hope that those particular influences from the

outside do not come in and disrupt what we have

worked very hard for since Wednesday

And we we're not going to allow any unlawful protests

Give a reaction cooper calling for the release of the

body cam Garson's mayor that this is larger than Elizabeth

City

Excuse me I'm sorry

Your reaction to Governor Cooper calling for the body cam

video to be released in your sense of whether this

is larger than just what's happening here in Elizabeth City

Oh yes it is

I believe it's larger than what's happening here in Elizabeth

City because if you observe or if you have been

keeping up with the news uh it's across the country

right now and I think we uh we all are

focused on maybe change is coming as far as policing

and how citizens are interact with the policeman

Uh now for our governor Cooper I have had many

conversations with him not about this

And he is one who who appears to what the

right thing done

And I am really pleased with him coming out indicating

that the body camp should be released

How much I stressed the importance to or mantra or

chief the importance to the sheriff's office about releasing the

body cam video as you said earlier

Not simply to the public but to the family as

well in a timely manner

Well our uh manager was just with uh the sheriff

on yesterday I believe

So

I'm gonna let him address that right now

Um we talked very shortly about that over at the

Mount Church

There was a an event there and it was several

very influential clergy members there

The sheriff was there and I was there

I didn't get to stay along because I had to

do CNN

But um he told me that the transparency and accountability

was at the forefront of how they were going to

be proceeding

Um They have they have a crisis intervention consultant who

they are talking to

Um and so I'm gonna hope and trust I'm trusting

with everything in me

I'm trying with everything

Give me to believe that they're going to do the

right thing

I truly believe that the sheriff will once that inflammation

is ready I have every bit of faith in Sparty

Hammond the county manager that he will stand tall and

do the same thing as well

Um But time is truly of the essence and I'm

going to just continue to focus on protecting people as

we work through this process compared to other police use

of force cases across the country that were in those

instances body camera footage has been released rather quickly

Does it frustrate you to see the process here and

what it's taking for you to see that released

That is a very good question

But but let me just say this

Um I'm here as a leader right And I don't

get to pick and choose when my emotions can be

displayed or I don't get to wear them on my

sleeve

And so I will stay away from that question

Uh but I will say that I'm I'm trying with

all that is in me to believe and trust in

the process as an attorney

I'm trying to believe in what I've been trained to

do

Um Dink Phyllis craig taylor who was the dean at

north Carolina Central University School of Law when I was

there said to us all that words are the tools

of our trade

And so in that same vein I'm gonna use my

words to empower people and encourage people to continue to

do it right such that I can serve them at

my various highest

Let thank you

Do you believe to be standing up here with you

all speaking to the media and to the public today

to be transparent That is also a very good question

But again I'm just choosing to focus on protecting the

citizens of Elizabeth City

I I um I would like to believe that the

mayor's comments uh was what should have happened because we

believe that the county needed to have an opportunity to

drive this narrative

Um but again we're not in that room we still

have not seen any evidence we still have not seen

anybody camp we have not conversed at length with the

county and so we want to keep that in the

county and we're just gonna focus on protecting and serving

on that

Because I interviewed one of the neighbors to Brown's home

uh in a bullet a stray bullet went through the

entire extent of the house from the front of the

house through two walls his crockpot landed on the floor

Do you or Chief The mayor have concerns about the

use of force how it was carried out whether it

was disproportionate level of force for carrying out a warrant

or could you could you comment on that as we

wait for the investigation We do have neighbors quite rattled

that their home was shut up

Um I was unfamiliar with that piece of evidence which

is again why I don't really speak on evidence

Um you know I'm trained to make evidence based decisions

That's what attorneys do right

And I don't have that evidence in front of me

and I'm not trying to discredit your statement or your

question but for that reason I will stay away from

that

Now I will say this

It is still the directive of my office and the

directive of our chief's office that we protect our citizens

as best we can in all fashions

As I said before the business of the city never

stops

And as unfortunate as this is uh for the Brown

family and all the entities involved we still have business

to attend to

I still have a budget that I need to pass

so that I can take care of the citizens of

Elizabeth City and pay these amazing people who work for

the city to do their jobs who by the way

I could never pay them what their work

Uh And so great questions sir

I feel and I think the same thing as you

do but I do not have that answer

I'm so sorry frustrated because of the lack of new

information

I mean we even have people surrounding us saying you're

not telling us anything what's the message you have for

people who are extremely frustrated here and around the world

Um uh their frustrations are our frustrations

We live here right If if if you can hear

the frustrations of the citizens and imagine our frustrations hearing

those frustrations when we've been tasked with serving those citizens

But there's a clear message here and that is we

were not involved which is why my directive has been

on protecting the citizens and the protesters such that I

can serve and we can serve and they can serve

and we all can serve each other to the best

of our abilities

I wish I had those answers but I don't because

we were not involved

And so to that end I wanted the citizens to

understand that

I know that and know that I will not waver

on how we protect each other

I mean I was just gonna ask you know you

brought up the budget a couple times and as many

of us would like to get into Elizabeth city politics

a lot of our viewers from across north Carolina maybe

across the country around the world

What is it about this situation though that resonates with

other communities across the country Because your challenges are there

challenges and what is the lesson that you're taking away

from this and what is it that you want people

across the country to understand about your predicament Well as

I said when I was first interviewed when this first

happened as an african american man and father who's raising

her son It felt like yet another one

That's how it felt that's how it continues to feel

But I cannot allow my self to stay in that

space because I have 18,000 people that are responsible for

I got a police department that I'm responsible for

I have taxpayers that I'm responsible for and to

And so as we work through the budget process you're

right it's gonna be extremely impact because I still have

to leave the city now as it relates to the

lessons learned man

We need a whole another day for the lessons learned

But I will say uh and one interviewer said this

to me was that he was unsure but he felt

like I might have been the first manager to bring

in law enforcement to protect protesters

And so the lesson that I've learned is that the

First Amendment is still power and it's two people protected

and I'm gonna do everything I can to continue to

do that

The other thing is I pray that this never happens

again ever not in the city of Elizabeth City in

any other city and to all the families and law

enforcement officers who are dealing with this

My prayers go out to you

Um but I will continue to stand tall my lesson

that I've learned as a leader and that I will

give to all leaders across this nation across the state

Is that continue to do the work Because the work

still has to get done

Thank you and chief for you

What or what doesn't happen in Pasquotank County

What are your lessons that you take away from this

What changes are you making in your own police Department

And what are the initiatives that you're taking Because maybe

this was passed to take this time but it could

have been one of your offers officers

So what changes are you making that you want to

be a model for the rest of the country Well

we have been doing community policing since I've been to

Police chief here for the last nine years

So our model here has been we have been embedded

within this community for nine years as I said in

meeting our citizens and being engaged in programs here in

this city for our citizens where we want our law

enforcement officers not only to enforce the law but we

want them to be engaging in meeting our citizens not

just on this side

Even before we got here we knew our citizens

And I think that's the real reason why we have

lawful and peaceful protests because we know and we engage

our citizens and we have been doing that since I've

been to Police chief

But I'm not here to take all the credit because

the men and women who wear this blue uniform within

this police department they have actually bought into that value

because the value is within your community

The value is not after something like this happens

And I believe we've deposited that value in our citizens

and the members of this police department and especially our

visitors who come here as well

There any parts of the investigation that are alarming I

know little has been released

But is there anything that you've heard so far that

has struck a chord or made you question anything procedural

that would have been done as an expert

No

From a law enforcement perspective there there should be

And I believe there is an internal investigation being conducted

by the passport in County Sheriff's Office as well as

a criminal investigation being conducted by the north Carolina State

Bureau of Investigations

Uh so uh that's all I can say on that

I'm not privy to any of the information on either

side of that investigation

Uh as I've said earlier in the press conference our

engagement is totally uh from a reactionary standpoint in providing

a peaceful assembly chief how unusual is that our people

Is it for you your force not to be read

in on the service of this kind of warrant by

sheriff's deputies I'm not gonna say it's uh unusual

It I didn't know about it I'm not sure if

it was talked about at the lower level amongst those

particular units but I did not know about it and

my command staff did not know about it

And would you typically no in this kind of service

of warrants Usually we work hand in hand

But like I said in this particular occasion we were

not participating in the execution of the search warrant or

the service of the arrest warrant

We've been privy to the context that warrant

No I have not

I have not seen the arrest warrant nor the search

warrant nor the body camera footage

Yeah

I just want to say uh quickly uh to uh

let you all know that uh Chief of Police uh

Chief Buffalo is well known in the community and well

respected and his officers are too because they're referred to

as peace officers not necessarily the po po or the

police but peace officers because they make it their business

to go out and be a relationships with the people

in the community

So that helps an awful lot if you're out there

before something like this happens

And also I heard the question about what you could

possibly have learned from what has happened

And I would just like to say that one of

the things that I take from this is that Elizabeth

city is a microcosm now of what is going on

across the nation

Uh I see now that no city small and large

is exempt

So we are ready to do whatever we need to

do to supplement what we're already doing to make sure

nothing like this happens again

It didn't happen on our watch

But still we have to now police the protesters even

though they're doing well but our police department now has

been drawn into it

So of course it is you know part of our

charge to determine whatever else needs to be done so

that we will not have anything like this happened again

because it hurts assault

You are you are now intimately familiar with the process

of trying to get body camera footage access by the

public

Is there any bigger takeaways Anything that you would really

like to see change in terms of that overall process

of accessing body camera footage of the law and that's

where you have to go

You have to change the laws

You know we might talk about it we might say

what we want

But unless the law is changed uh it won't you

know won't matter

And I would like to see I know someone said

earlier that uh in some states you know they able

to get them right away

I don't know what their laws are as far as

the body cams are concerned

But you have to go through a process here

And uh the council has submitted a requisition of course

to the Sheriff's office if denied

As I said earlier then it goes on to uh

the D

A

S office and then finally it will go to the

Superior Court

But we were told by our attorney that more than

likely we will not get it because as I went

read through the statutes and the law there's nowhere where

they would release the uh the camp to a council

But they will the family

But we're just showing we're trying to show the family

and the community that we're not just selected where I

elected and we have to be good stewards of the

people's resources and to let them know that they can

trust us and yes sir Go ahead

How would you change the law How would I change

the law You know what I need to just give

this back over to my manager because he's the one

that know about the law

Because if you ask me how I would change it

I'll just say come on now

You know this doesn't make sense

We have to wait forever to get the body camp

24 hours to 48 hours is enough

So let's let's just change this

So you know it's not gonna happen like this but

I want to see it changed as quickly as possible

And the root of it all is that you have

to change your law you know Thank you all so

much

Uh thank you for being here

Thank you citizens

Thank you press

Thank you all so much for helping us to get

this word out and get this message out again to

all of the law enforcement that is in town

I want to be clear about this

Thank you to all of the citizens who have been

patient to drive around the protesters and exercise great judgment

Thank you and to all of the protesters who have

been extremely peaceful and unified

Thank you on behalf of the city of Elizabeth city

Thank you all so much

I bid you all godspeed

And please have a great day Take care this friend

Yeah I got everybody okay

Okay