Police Overreach for African American Man’s Jaywalking Infraction

This incident is reminiscent of hundreds that have taken place across the country:
an African American male arrested and beaten for a minor infraction – in this case,
jaywalking. The larger stakes here, beyond the unjustifiable harm done to one human
being, is the extent to which all African Americans can place trust in the Police
Department to do their job in an evenhanded manner.
Captured on a police officer’s body camera, the incident depicts racist application
of excessive and unnecessary force. It is contrary to the Asheville Police Department’s
recently adopted policy on excessive use of force and the extensive training all officers
underwent in this key area. The incident clearly proves that written policies and training
are not enough. There need to be strong measures of accountability to ensure that actions
are coincident with policy and training.
The Racial Justice Coalition (RJC) understands fully the need for confidentiality
regarding personnel actions and we support and appreciate the decision of the Chief to
take appropriate personnel action. At the same time we expect that Police and City
officials would take into account the broad negative implications of an incident such as
this and communicate vigorously and in a timely manner in its wake with community
leaders. While this was not done in this case it clearly can be without jeopardizing
confidentiality of personnel actions.
We also expect that the approach to full accountability within the Police
Department address the matter of the behavior of the officers who stood by and watched
a fellow officer engage in indefensible actions.
Finally the incident opens again the question of whether there is a need for an
outside-the-Department oversight body to ensure that steps are being taken to prevent
such incidences from happening again. We hope that a full review of this incident results
in more explicit and stronger measures of accountability exercised within the upper
echelons of the Asheville Police Department.
The RJC stands by its continuing commitment to work with all parties in a civil
manner to help ensure enduring trust between the Police and the communities they serve.
The Racial Justice Coalition includes representatives of organizations in Asheville
and Buncombe County dedicated to racial justice. The RJC comes together in
commitment to racial equity and to advocate for the rights of people of color. The RJC
includes: ACLU of WNC, ABIPA, Asheville-Buncombe Branch of the NAACP,
Asheville City Schools Foundation, Building Bridges of Asheville, Carolina Jews for
Justice/West, Center for Diversity Education at UNC-Asheville, Children First/CIS,
Christians for a United Community, Democracy North Carolina, Elders Fierce for Justice,
Mountain People's Assembly, and YWCA of Asheville and WNC.