Here are 3 top issues Raleigh’s new police chief will face

Veteran law enforcement officer Estella Patterson will face new challenges when she starts work as Raleigh’s next police chief Aug. 1.

Patterson, deputy chief with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, succeeds Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown, who is retiring after more than 30 years with the Raleigh Police Department.

In the wake of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests and continued fatal shootings by police, communities across the nation are being pushed to re-evaluate public safety strategies and police funding — and Raleigh is no exception.

Here are three key issues that will face the capital city’s new police chief when she assumes her role.

Raleigh Police Advisory Board

The Raleigh City Council formed an 11-person Police Advisory Board in February 2020, despite opposition from Deck-Brown. The board is intended to serve as a liaison between the City Council and Raleigh community, according to its website.

A little more than a year after the board’s establishment, two members resigned, citing challenges working with the city and chairperson Sheila Alamin-Khashoggi.

The board also has been criticized because it lacks the power to probe complaints against police. Although one of its responsibilities is to review police department procedures, it cannot conduct investigations, respond to citizen complaints or collect data — changes sought for by the coalition Raleigh Demands Justice.

Alamin-Khashoggi said she’s hoping to see more transparency and cooperation between the new police chief and the board. A series of recommendations for policy changes, along with the names of two new members, will be announced at the board’s meeting in July, she said.

Deck-Brown’s opposition to the board was a challenge, Alamin-Khashoggi said. But she believes the police chief candidates’ experience working with police advisory and accountability boards will be a plus.

“Everything really lies on that police chief,” she said.

Sustaining new changes

In August 2020, Deck-Brown announced a new eight-person police unit called the ACORNS Team, which stands for “addressing crises through outreach, referrals, networking and service.”

The goal of the team is to connect individuals in crisis with resources like a social worker and field services through a “care and safety first, enforcement last” approach, according to ACORNS’ webpage.

Criminal justice reform advocates have long urged that Raleigh move police department resources to other government or nonprofit organizations. At the time of the ACORNS Team announcement, several people expressed disapproval of the unit, saying more officers was not the solution. The team has three police officers and three social workers.

“That is absolutely the wrong direction,” Dawn Blagrove, the executive director of Emancipate NC, said of the unit last year. “It is absolutely a reinvestment and further doubling down on policies and programs that do not work.”

Police staffing shortages

Patterson will also have to manage staff shortages in the police department.

Donna-maria Harris, the police department’s public affairs manager, said as of May 10, the department had 75 vacancies among its 793 authorized sworn officer positions. It had 13 vacancies among its allotted 108 civilian, non-sworn positions.

Rick Armstrong is vice president of Teamsters Local 391, a union that represents the Raleigh Police Protective Association. He believes Patterson’s main priority within the department should be to retain and recruit more officers.

“We hope and are optimistic that Patterson will be more willing to meet with the unions, more willing to meet with the rank-and-file officers ... that was a huge issue with the police officers in Raleigh,” he said.

This internship is supported by the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund at the North Carolina Community Foundation.