Raleigh police chief hopes to reduce crime in southeast Raleigh by connecting, investing in the community
Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson was sworn into office on Thursday, as activists across the country call for reform among police departments.
She's assuming office as gun violence is rising across the country and city and under pressure from some community activists to change how the department prevents crime.
Patterson was born in Panama, grew up in California and Germany and then came to Charlotte, North Carolina for college. She said her father was in the military, and his selfless service resonated with her.
"You have the opportunity to meet someone on their worst day, and you really can make their worst day a better day," she said.
Estella Patterson was deputy chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department from 1996 to 2019.
Cassandra Deck-Brown, the outgoing police chief, told Patterson that this was her opportunity to do what she felt was right for Raleigh. Once Deck-Brown told her that, Patterson said the pressure to carry on Deck-Brown's legacy was lifted.
"I want to make sure to carry on the good things that she has done, but also, make it my own," Patterson said.
Even though Patterson is not the first Black woman to head the Raleigh Police Department, she said she still feels the burden of meeting both the needs of the community and the police department.
Addressing racial discrimination by police
When Patterson was 18-years-old, she said a state highway patrol officer in an unmarked car stopped her in South Carolina for speeding. He followed her for a mile, until she finally realized he was trying to stop her and she pulled over.
He said she needed to pay the ticket right away, or she was going to jail. The trooper followed Patterson to an ATM, where she withdrew some cash and handed it over to him.
"I question now if I was really speeding, and what he did with that money," she said. "I believe there was something unethical that occurred there."
The ticket did not show up on her record, she found. That was her only negative interaction with an officer.
Patterson said that police officers need to be better listeners to protesters and community members who are calling for change among the force.
Most officers, she said, believe that the "law is blind" and there is no disparity in how communities of color are treated.
She said that while training officers in Charlotte, she was able to have an open dialogue and help them understand that not all communities are policed equally.
Footage from a body camera obtained by WBTV News in Charlotte shows officers arresting James Yarborough, and an officer identified as Jon Dunham can be heard threatening him.
"Stop. I will kill you,” Dunham said in the video as he pressed a gun to Yarborough’s head. The arrest came after a traffic stop which Yarborough tried to run from police. He later filed an excessive force complain.
"When you look completely at the totality of the circumstances, you have to ask yourself, is that reasonable? And based on everything, it was reasonable," Patterson told WBTV when asked about the bodycam footage.
Rise in crime in southeast Raleigh
Violent crime is spiking in the city, and officials say a third of all violent crimes reported have taken place in the southeast of the city.
Giving people in southeast Raleigh "a chance at a job, to make sure they feel like they have a purpose in life," will help reduce crime in the city, Patterson said.
There should not be one entity working on reducing crime, she said. In Charlotte, Patterson said they partnered with the U.S. Attorney's Office to help with more extreme crimes.
"I know that I am going to have to connect very much with this community," Patterson said.
She hopes that more people who live in southeast Raleigh will use Crime Stoppers to report anonymous tips.
Patterson wants to start doing roll call sessions in public places, like malls and neighborhoods. Roll call is when a supervisor takes attendance, inspects officers' uniform and equipment and tells the new shift about any crime that has occurred and what they should be looking out for.
"If our officers are not interacting, not engaging in the community, then that trust can't be built," Patterson said.
Ring cameras are another effective tool at helping police with investigations, she said.
Shortage of officers
While WRAL Investigates has found calls for change in policing have had minimal impact on local law enforcement budgets, they are having an impact on the daily roll call in some local departments.
"I don’t think the public knows how much their safety is at risk and how much our safety is at risk," a veteran Raleigh police officer said about the shortage of officers. "It’s more a problem now than ever, and I also couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do everything I possibly could to let the public know I don’t think they’re safe."
Patterson said that after analyzing data with other city officials, she found that the Raleigh Police Department is meeting the city's demand. That includes responding to calls for service on time.
"We're going to always make sure the community is safe," she said.
WRAL Investigates found that there were time slots during the day when there were no officers on duty. But Patterson said this is because there are not as many calls for service during certain times of the day, like early in the morning, so there might not be as many officers.
Officers are tired, Patterson said, especially working around the clock to quell protesters. She said that she doesn't think those officers have had time to recover. She hopes to hire more police officers to help ease the work load.
Morale among the department is a concern for Patterson, and she said she is going to make sure to tell her officers they are appreciated.
"When they feel that their command staff is against them as much as the community is against them, that's when you start to have morale problems," she said.
Part of connecting with the community means that Patterson will also meet with activists, and listen to their demands.
The last thing that she wants to do is further victimization among police, and says that re-allocating funds away from the department could do that.
