Report: Racial bias 'deeply entrenched' in Apex Police Department
The Apex Police Department needs to have officers undergo racial equity training, recruit more minority and female officers and hire a diversity officer to overcome "deeply entrenched" racial bias in the department, a consultant told town officials in a report released Wednesday.
The Town Council hired Diversity & HR Solutions in 2019 to review the culture within Apex's municipal offices and make recommendations. The council asked the firm last year to take a more in-depth look at the police department because of the climate nationwide toward policing and racial justice, especially in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody in Minnesota.
"A culture exist[s] and is being supported where officers were comfortable making comments that were blatantly racist and out of touch serving a multiracial community," the report states in its recommendations. "The entrenchment goes deep and will require a multi-pronged approach to change and build a culturally competent and caring APD to serve and protect a diverse community."
"The good news is that the Black and Hispanic populations are low among the citizenry," the report adds.
Overall, the report described the police department as a family unaware of its dysfunctionality. While some officers provided glowing reviews, others called the culture "toxic," "stressful" and "horrendous."
Some officers said they don't feel Apex officials have their back, expressing irritation that some officials took part in Black Lives Matter protests. At least one officer even said that Floyd asked for what happened to him.
Mayor Jacques Gilbert called the findings "concerning" and "disturbing," but he said the town and the department have already set up an action plan to address the situation.
"Diversity and inclusion is a priority for us," Gilbert told WRAL News on Thursday. "We have to have the right people in the right place to be able to [serve our community] effectively."
Gilbert was a member of the department before he was elected, and he said he "did receive feedback and concerns from the community" at that time about racism.
"I did what I could do in my position at the time to improve community relationships and still believe we can continue to move forward," he said in a separate statement to WRAL.
Interim Police Chief Tony Godwin agreed he was troubled by the findings but said the report lacks context. He said, for example, that it's difficult to determine whether a couple of officers made racial comments or whether it was most of the 124 members of the department.
"It's unfair to paint the entire department with a broad brush," Godwin said. "Do we have problems? Certainly we do. Are we going to address those problems? Absolutely we will."
Godwin, a former police chief in Cary, was hired in January, succeeding former Chief John Letteney, who retired in November and now serves as chief of the police department in Thomasville, Ga. The change in leadership is one reason town officials didn't release the report, which was completed in October, earlier, Gilbert said.
Some parts of the action plan are already being addressed – Godwin noted the report goes beyond racial equity to address concerns about communication, promotions and policies in the police department – and some will be accomplished in the coming months, Gilbert and Godwin said.
"As long as we have members of the community that feel like they do not belong or they're not included in the town of Apex, then we've got work to do," Godwin said. "We're committed to getting this right."
Gerald Givens, president of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP, said he is "neither surprised nor shocked" by the findings.
"What we know within the NAACP is that, until anti-racist policies are implemented, racism and white supremacy will continue to negatively impact Black and Brown Americans and create inequities in the criminal justice system," Givens said in a statement. "[We] continue to support the efforts to identify and challenge racism and work towards inclusion and equity for all."
Dawn Blagrove with EmancipateNC agreed that the report clearly shows a problem in the Apex Police Department.
"The people of Apex who are people of color have no reason to have faith or trust in their law enforcement right now,” Blagrove said.
Gilbert said facing up to the problem is the first step toward fixing it.
"We took a step that not many people are courageous enough to do or willing to do," he said. "Although it is maybe not popular, it is the right thing to do."
