COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) The North Charleston police department will become the latest law enforcement agency to undergo an official review by the U.S. Justice Department, a year after the fatal shooting of unarmed black motorist Walter Scott.
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The review, which commences immediately, was announced less than a week after former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager was indicted on federal criminal charges related to the shooting death of Scott.
North Charleston is the 11th USA city to take part in the program offered by the COPS Office, officials said.
Chief Noble Wray of the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services office, or COPS, said the review was requested by the community and city officials and will cost up to $600,000. The Justice Department said in a news release that its action was a “response to requests made by city officials”, and federal authorities would work with their local counterparts to mend damaged relations with residents. “It is not a short-term solution for serious deficiencies, but rather a long-term strategy that first identifies issues with an agency that may affect public trust and then offers specific recommendations based on a comprehensive assessment for how to resolve those issues and enhance relationships between the department and the communities it serves”. “There was a call from the community and the government heard it”.
“Although this is a voluntary process, it is the eyes of the community that keeps this an accountable process”, Wray said.
The criminal cases against Slager – who had already been charged locally with murder – are separate from the Justice Department’s review of the department.
Subsequent reports will assess the police department’s progress in implementing the proposed reforms, Wray added. North Charleston is the 11 city to enter into the collaborative reform process.
“It’s an opportunity for us to look at ourselves by having other people look at us”, Mayor Keith Summey said.
The COPS office is separate from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which has conducted investigations of agencies suspected of a “pattern or practice” of biased policing.
Ed Bryant, president of the North Charleston NAACP branch, said the measure ignores that key issue, creating an irony in light of last week’s civil rights indictment of the policeman who killed Scott. He pleaded not guilty last week to federal civil rights charges related to the shooting.
“At the end of the review, we will have a record that the city can use in addressing its policies and practices”, he said.
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Scott was behind $18,000 in his child support payments and family members have said he may have run because he was anxious about going to jail.
