Police Chief Atack calculates for the Carrboro City Council

GOVERNMENT

By Fraser Sherman
correspondent

CARRBORO – Out of 586 incident reports in the second and third quarters of 2023, Carrboro police used force in 18 cases, Police Chief Chris Atack said.

At the Carrboro City Council meeting on June 18, the last meeting until September, Atack presented statistics on traffic stops, searches, citations, complaints against officers and use of force. Carrboro already implemented quarterly police reports on these and other issues in 2020. The reports help council members see how Carrboro is progressing toward the goals the council set for 2020:

• No racial/ethnic differences in traffic stops.
• No racial/ethnic differences in searches following traffic stops.
• No racial/ethnic differences in citations and arrests following identity checks.
• No racial/ethnic differences in the use of force.
• No arrests for minor marijuana-related offenses.

“Use of force” includes eight incidents in the second and third quarter reports in which police pointed a gun, eight in which they put their hands on someone to restrain them and two in which police threatened to use an electric device or a Taser. Atack said “electric device” means the same as Taser, just without the brand name.

Atack said it used to be acceptable to use Tasers on fleeing suspects, but a ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has now restricted police departments in the jurisdiction from using them to desperate situations. Instead, officers are more likely to use the Taser in a targeted manner without using it.

Cases involving the use of force come in a variety of forms. In one such case, Atack said, “a suspect who was driving under the influence of alcohol tried to walk away. You can’t do that.” Other cases involved the handcuffing of an aggressive drunk driver, a case of aggravated assault and an armed break-in into a home. In one case, a suspect broke away from a new police officer and ran out of the police station.

After hearing Atack’s presentation, Councilwoman Catherine Fray asked if the rules on pointing a gun were justified based on the threat level. Atack said it could be based on the level of danger — such as an armed suspect brandishing a gun in a crowd — but also in cases involving felony charges, even without an immediate threat. “The use of force must be proportionate in all circumstances.”

Traffic stops

One of the topics the city has requested data on is residency: Where are drivers from during traffic stops? Atack said, “Typically, 50 percent of our stops are people from outside of Carrboro.” However, they have not yet developed a system to track residency more precisely.

The demographic makeup of drivers stopped in the second quarter is as follows: 40% Caucasian, 36% Black, 19% Hispanic, and 5% Asian. In the third quarter, it was 43% Caucasian, 31% Black, 19% Hispanic, and 7% Asian.

More than 70 percent of the checks in both districts are due to speed or safety concerns. Around 10 percent are for registration checks. Other reasons include investigative work and problems with the vehicle equipment. Only one driver was stopped for not wearing a seatbelt.

Atack said officers will not stop anyone for an expired license plate, but if a check shows the DMV has canceled a license plate for any reason, the officer will stop the driver and confiscate the license plate.

Distraction and redirection

Sometimes officers who have reason to charge someone will “divert and redirect” and send them to the mental hospital or other community services instead. In March 2024, Carrboro hired social worker Monrita Hughes to find alternatives to jail for mentally ill people who commit minor crimes. Hughes’ work is part of a joint project among law enforcement agencies in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and Orange County.

Atack’s presentation states that “D&D” is a long-standing policy of the Carrboro PD. The department only began tracking it in the third quarter of 2023, when there were 48 D&D incidents. The department will track statistics on Hughes’ work going forward.

Officer presence

Council member Eliazar Posada said he has been contacted by residents of several apartment complexes inquiring about the criteria for a police officer to be present in the parking lot. Posada said one of the people who raised the issue had just moved into a new apartment and was concerned the police officer’s presence meant it was a high-crime area.

Atack said there could be several reasons. Sometimes it’s a response to a call from the administration. Other times, an officer spots multiple car thefts in the same area and acts as a deterrent. “We try to respond as quickly as possible, but we also don’t want to intervene too much and show too much police force.”

Posada recommended that people who interviewed him speak to their property managers before making any assumptions.

You can watch the entire meeting on the Council’s YouTube channel.

Fraser Sherman has worked for newspapers such as the Destin Log, the Pensacola News-Journal and the Raleigh Public Record. Originally from England, he would still be living in Florida if he hadn’t met the perfect woman and moved to Durham to marry her. He is the author of several film books and has published a novel and several short story collections.
This reporter can be reached at [email protected].