Documents Submitted to the City of Raleigh by Raleigh PACT
March 14, 2016 | Body camera RecommendationS
Days after the police-involved shooting of Akiel Denkins, Raleigh PACT introduces itself to the Raleigh City Council and submits recommendations on how the City and RPD should craft Raleigh body camera policies. You can read the full letter here.
"We are aware that on the day that Akiel Denkins died, the Raleigh Police Department was scheduled to make a presentation in front of the City Council about body camera technology. That presentation has been rescheduled for March 15th and we are eager to listen to that presentation and work closely with the city, community, and our partners to ensure that the implementation of this technology in our city promotes transparency and accountability rather than create an additional surveillance tool."
April 4, 2016 | Open Letter to City Council
PACT followed up their body camera recommendations with detailed policy suggestions for how to create accountability, equity, and transparency in Raleigh policing. You can read the full policy proposal here.
April 14, 2016 | Response to Legal Obstacles
After presenting the initial set of policy recommendations to the City Council, the City's Attorney responded with legal obstacles to implementing PACT's recommendations. In particular he focused on the difficulty of convening a community oversight board and of deprioritizing marijuana enforcement. PACT and our partners prepared a memo outlining the legal backing for our recommendations. You can read that memo here.
May 25, 2016 | Initial Response from RPD to PACT
After hearing from PACT leaders at City Council meetings repeatedly, the City Council directed the City Manager's office to put together a response to PACT's concerns and recommendations. That response was written by RPD leadership and provided to PACT at what ended up being the first of four meetings between a delegation of PACT community leaders and the City Manager, Assistant City Manager, Chief of Police, and Deputy Chief of Police. You can read the status report from RPD here.
July 27, 2016 | Memo from City Manager to PACT
Following four meetings with a delegation of PACT leaders, the City Manager's office put together this memo summarizing their commitments for addressing our stated concerns. That memo was shared with PACT and the media at a final meeting. From there, the City began a process of convening community dialogues across the City on policing and other issue of concern. You can read the public memo here.
November 17, 2016 | Request for legislative priority
As a major city, Raleigh sets legislative priorities that it advocates for at the General Assembly. This is especially important in a Dillon's Rule state where the powers of a municipality must be authorized or granted by the state. In November of 2016, PACT and our partner the ACLU of NC asked that the City Council make requesting a community oversight board with the power to discipline, subpoena, and investigate a legislative priority for the 2017 long session. You can read that memo here.
July 18, 2017 | Body Camera Recommendations 2
In the spring of 2017, the Raleigh Police Department opened up a process to receive feedback from the community on their proposed body camera policy. Unfortunately, they did this while they already had pilot body cameras out on the streets. PACT submitted these policy recommendations and attended a number of feedback sessions across the City to raise concerns about the proposed departmental operating procedure (DOI) to accompany the city's body camera program that will cost the City over $5 million. You can read that memo here.
June 14, 2018 | PRESENTATION TO HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION
In the summer of 2018, the Human Relations Commission, the City's advisory board on human and civil rights invited us to present on our recommendations and learnings. You can download the full packet of research we submitted below and view our powerpoint presentation here.
On November 20, 2018, a community member presented a proposal for a police advisory board to City Council. Following that presentation, City Council Member Corey Branch instructed City staff to research board models and report back to Council. Raleigh PACT was present at that meeting to voice concerns about a proposal without meaningful authority and financial resources. As a follow-up, we formally submitted this detailed proposal to expand on our earlier proposal for an oversight board with subpoena, disciplinary, and investigatory power.