NAACP sees lack of urgency for reform after CMPD used chemical agents on protesters
Charlotte NAACP leader Corine Mack is questioning the pace of change since police deployed chemical agents on protesters in uptown Charlotte June 2.
“No one has been held accountable for ambushing, trapping and firing tear gas and banned chemical weapons at a peaceful protest,” Mack said in a statement late Friday. “There doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency and I am deeply disappointed to watch our political leaders continue to be silent.”
Protesters said they were marching peacefully and never heard Charlotte-Mecklenburg police order them to disperse at 4th and College Streets the night of June 2 before officers deployed tear gas, pepper balls and stun grenades, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. Police also blocked the protesters from escaping either end of the street, they said.
Police have refused to say what chemical agents they used that night on protesters.
Mack said she was concerned by what she called Charlotte City Council’s failure “to take any real action regarding regarding police reform.”
“I know that leaders all over the country are implementing comprehensive change as it relates to policing,” Mack said. “I pray Charlotte and all of North Carolina does the same.”
Incoming CMPD Police Chief Johnny Jennings said he anticipates an update as early as next week from retiring Chief Kerr Putney on several reviews and an internal investigation about the June 2 police response.
“The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is committed to responsible police reform to ensure we’re serving every member of our community equitably,” Jennings said in a statement to the Observer Tuesday.
“It will require the CMPD to clearly listen and more importantly understand the expectations the community holds for police services,” Jennings added. “We are eager to work closely with the NAACP and all members of the community to make the necessary changes required to ensure we’re serving with legitimacy and public support.”
City spokesman Cory Burkarth said Charlotte officials and the police have taken steps in response to the incident, and noted that the city will act on the findings of the reviews over the June 2 incident.
CMPD also has changed the way it issues dispersal orders to protesters, city officials said. Putney said orders will be made loud enough for all in a crowd to hear them and will be made repeatedly, including if the crowd moves to another part of the city.
And Charlotte City Council adopted a budget June 8 that bans police from buying more chemical agents or tear gas, officials added.
NAACP list of demands
In criticizing the city’s failure to hold anyone accountable for the June 2 police response, Mack also released 24 demands by the NAACP Charlotte-Mecklenburg branch.
The list includes banning choke holds and “no-knock” warrants, and no spending on “militarized and chemical weapons.”
Part of the savings from not spending money on those items should instead go to building a center to provide job training and temporary housing for people released from prison, the NAACP said.
The NAACP also wants a “complete review and mass overhaul” of police response to mass gatherings and protests and the department’s “rules of engagement.”
And the group said it wants to see more transparency involving the police. “Any officer-involved incident with a complaint of abuse, brutality or aggression will be subject to a release of that officer’s personnel records,” the NAACP said in its statement.
The NAACP also wants more de-escalation and crisis intervention training for police, and rigorous psychiatric evaluations of all CMPD recruits.
In a statement for the city, Burkarth said Charlotte officials “are already aligned with several of Rev. Mack’s recommendations.” The city did not state which items it was referring to.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 3:14 PM.