Here are 4 top issues facing new Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson

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 four key issues the new chief will face.

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 creation, 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 tasks is to review police department procedures, it cannot conduct investigations, respond to citizen complaints or collect data — changes sought by the coalition Raleigh Demands Justice.

In an interview before Patterson was named chief, Alamin-Khashoggi said she’s hoping to see more transparency and cooperation between the new chief and the board.

A series of policy recommendations, 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 experience the finalists for chief had working with police advisory and accountability boards will be a plus.

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

New public safety measures

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.”

Its goal is to connect people in crisis with referrals, transportation and other services provided in the field 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. 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, 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 officer staffing shortages

As of May 10, the Raleigh Police Department had 75 vacancies among its 793 authorized sworn officer positions, spokesperson Donna-maria Harris said in an email. It had 13 vacancies among its 108 civilian, non-sworn positions.

Rick Armstrong is vice president of Teamsters Local 391, a union that represents the Raleigh Police Protective Association. He says 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,” Armstrong said. “That was a huge issue with the police officers in Raleigh.”

Addressing continued demands

Deck-Brown faced a tumultuous final year, receiving threats that prompted a security detail at her home and calls for her resignation.

Last summer, the city hired Chicago-based 21CP Solutions to review the department’s handling of local protests after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The consultant the city chose was criticized by some who said the company — composed largely of former police officers — wouldn’t be impartial.

The company eventually made 38 recommendations to change RPD policies, many of which have been completed, according to an April 27 department memo.

But Zainab Baloch, a former mayoral candidate and founder of Young Americans Protest, said she and other organizers of the initial protest last summer were never asked to engage in discussions with 21CP Solutions.

Baloch would like to see Patterson address several issues in her first 100 days. They include moving the ACORNS Team out of the police department, eliminating equipment like tear gas and prohibiting police training overseas, specifically in Israel.

Baloch, who is part of the Raleigh Demands Justice coalition, said she hopes Patterson communicates and engages with the community more than Deck-Brown.

“People should get to know her, and I would like to really see her become a public figure in this city, so that people know who she is and know who they can go to if they’ve had an issue,” Baloch said.

Transparency is key, she said, and ultimately, the City Council also needs to be held accountable.

“They direct the direction the police department can go into and they hold the power to be able to drive that agenda,” she said.

Staff writer Anna Johnson contributed reporting to this story.

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