‘Racial bias’ entrenched at Apex Police Department, new report says
A culture of racial bias permeates the Apex Police Department, a newly released consultant’s report states.
“The good news is that the Black and Hispanic populations are low among the citizenry,” the report states. “Racial bias and blind spots appear to be deeply entrenched into the culture. ... A culture exist (sic) and is being supported where officers were comfortable making comments that were blatantly racist and out of touch for serving a multiracial community.”
Of Apex’s nearly 60,000 residents, just 6.5% are Black, according to 2019 U.S. Census data. Hispanic people make up 7.3% of the population and Asians, 8.8%.
The report, which was completed in October, is labeled confidential and heavily redacted in parts, with black lines covering paragraphs of information. The town of Apex shared it on social media Wednesday after activists quoted from it during the Apex Town Council meeting Tuesday night.
The report was completed by Diversity and HR Solutions at the request of the Apex Town Council. The Raleigh-based company lists Duke University, the Town of Carrboro and Burt’s Bees among its clients.
“What’s unfortunate about the report is I think people will look at the report as representative of the entire department,” Tony Godwin, the interim police chief, told The News & Observer in an interview Thursday.
“That is not true,” he continued. “Do we have problems? Yes, and we will deal with those problems. But it is important to know the vast majority of the officers are in this for the right reasons and serving with empathy and heart. We have to be careful about painting an entire department with a broad brush.”
Former Apex Police Chief John Letteney announced in November his plans to “retire” from the Apex Police Department, which he joined in 2012, and begin serving as chief of the Thomasville (Ga.) Police Department in January.
The N&O emailed Letteney around noon Thursday seeking comment for this story but had not received a reply as of 4:30 p.m.
“The town of Apex chose a path that not all are willing to take,” Apex Mayor Jacques Gilbert said on Facebook Wednesday night. “We believed it was important to find the areas that challenge us in order to create a sense of belonging for all in Apex.”
‘We only see blue’
All Apex Police employees had an opportunity to participate in the report, including in interviews with Diversity and HR Solutions (DHRS). About a dozen officers and police department staff were “somewhat defensive, resistant or chose not to answer some of the questions,” the report states.
One officer told DHRS “a group of officers had met, shared the questions being asked and was planning to respond in the same manner.”
The general “themes and statements” made during the interviews included:
- “(Black Lives Matter) is an anarchy to create division and over throw the police.”
- “George Floyd did not die due to the cops — he was a drug head and ask (sic) for it.”
- “There is no police brutality, the media is fabricating lies and making our jobs harder.”
- “We keep riff-raff out of Apex. We only see blue.”
- “The mayor crossed the ‘blue line’” and he needed to apologize.
One heavily redacted section of the report is called “Potential HR Risks.”
“While the scope of this review was to assess the culture without addressing specific HR issues by name, the report would be grossly incomplete without highlighting the (redacted) most often mentioned as problems for the APD across classification, gender and race.”
The rest of the section, a full-page, is redacted and blacked out.
Dawn Blagrove, executive director of Emancipate NC, was one of the people who spoke out during the Town Council meeting.
“These are the things that law enforcement officers are saying to people during an assessment who are outsiders,” she said in an interview with The N&O.
“I cannot imagine how hostile and racist and homophobic it must be to work in that police department,” she continued. “What they said on the record are things they believed aren’t controversial. Those were sanitized versions of their thoughts. And that is incredibly frightening.”
Gerald Givens Jr., president of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP, applauded the town for conducting a cultural assessment of the police department and its plans for an assessment of every department.
“We are neither surprised nor shocked by the findings, but continue to support the efforts to identify and challenge racism, and work towards inclusion and equity for all,” he said in a statement.
Recommendations
The report makes recommendations, including creating a citizen advisory committee on race relations, community policing and standard procedures, hiring a diversity officer, requiring diversity training and recruiting more diverse applicants.
“I will continue to stand up for what’s right and work with members of our community who are focused on positive change and ensuring all people are treated with dignity and respect,” Gilbert said. “There is nothing we can’t accomplish when we work together.”
Gilbert served 29 years in the Apex Police Department before retiring as captain. He is serving his first term as mayor after being elected in 2019.
“The content of the report was definitely surprising and disturbing as well, but I will say it gave us a baseline on what we need to improve on,” said Gilbert Thursday.
However, that culture was not what he experienced during his nearly three decades with the department, he said.
One recommendation states “the APD needs consistent and present leadership” but the rest of the paragraph is redacted.
If officers are not careful, they can become cynical because of the nature of their work, said Godwin, who is also a former police chief in Cary.
“No one invites us to the birthday party,” Godwin said. “You’re just dealing with the problems. So over time, you can believe the problems are the norms and not the exceptions. The community is not made up of problems. … If you’re not careful, you can start getting into an us versus them mentality.”
The only real “us versus them” is good versus evil, Godwin said, adding, “We have to remind ourselves we are on the same team.”
The report comes after mounting criticism of law enforcement in nearby cities and towns. The Raleigh Police Department and Wake County Sheriff’s Office faced scrutiny for their handling of protests after the death of Floyd. Fuquay-Varina is facing calls for police reform after officers handcuffed a 14-year-old accused of stealing a bicycle.
And the town of Clayton is reviewing its own internal report about the police department after placing its chief, Blair Myhand, on administrative leave. Myhand is a former Apex police captain who spent more than a decade with the department.
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 11:27 AM with the headline "‘Racial bias’ entrenched at Apex Police Department, new report says."
