The two finalists for Durham Police Department chief answered questions from community members in a forum held at City Hall Wednesday night.
The finalists are Atlanta Deputy Chief Cerelyn Davis and Major Michael Smathers of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department. The finalists responded to pre-submitted and audience questions in the one-hour forum, which was moderated by Beverly Thompson, director of the city's office of public affairs. Davis and Smathers fielded questions during the discussion about their plans to promote cultural competency, accountability and transparency in the Durham Police Department.
"It can't be that we wait for people to come to us, we have to take a sincere step and effort to try to establish better relationships," Davis said.
Smathers also said work would need to be done to establish better trust of the police in Durham residents. He noted that his plans to improve the community’s relationship with Durham police include giving citizens access to information about interactions with officers in order to have more transparent dialogues. He also acknowledged the importance of any police department being willing to admit mistakes.
“I’m going to be blindingly transparent,” he said.
Davis noted that if selected, she would work to better communicate with groups that feel like they have been underserved in the Durham community by relying on President Barack Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
Davis explained that she plans to train officers with tactics such as “verbal judo”—a method of talking people down and calming situations without force in times of escalation.
Smathers also expressed support for increased use of de-escalation methods in policing, which he said represents a shift in mindset from traditional policing methods.
“Even though we might be lawfully able to [use force], that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do—that’s a culture shift in law enforcement,” he said.
Both candidates expressed support for the use of body cameras—which are currently being used in both Charlotte and Atlanta.
Smathers noted a need for statutory change with regards to body camera technology.
“I do think there needs to be some statutory clarity to work through this issue because this technology seems to have eclipsed what the current laws allow us to work within,” he said.
In addition to questions surrounding bias in policing and community relations, the candidates responded to questions about their plans for the operations of the Durham Police Department, including a question about how to retain officers who have been increasingly leaving the profession.
Smathers noted that Charlotte has aimed to combat this issue through financial incentives for officers to live in Charlotte and educational benefits for employees who have student loans. Davis noted that Atlanta implemented a signing bonus for officers and used low-cost methods of improving the work environment, such as re-assigning officers to preferable shifts and fostering creativity and input among officers when possible.
“What we’ve done has a lot to do with budget. It’s a matter of providing those incentives that sometimes don’t cost anything—it’s the low-hanging fruit,” Davis said.
Steve Schewel, Trinity '73 and member of the Durham City Council, said he believes either candidate would be an excellent choice for Durham.
"We need a police chief who can successfully fight violent crime while at the same time can avoid the criminalization of minor infractions," said Schewel, who is also an assistant professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy.
Durham County Manager Tom Bonfield has been working with the Durham firm Development Associates to conduct the search process, since former Chief Jose Lopez announced his departure from the department at the end of 2015.
Thompson noted that the search team will review feedback forms filled out by attendees of Wednesday's meeting and will aim to make a job offer by the end of April, with the new chief starting in the beginning of May.
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