Durham couple say officers used excessive force in arrest. Police reviewing incident

A Durham couple has filed a complaint with the city’s police department, accusing five officers of using excessive force during a traffic stop last month

Kimurry Smith said she and her husband William Smith, who are Black, were driving home from Raleigh on Oct. 10 when she made an unsafe lane change to avoid missing an exit.

She didn’t realize that a police car was behind her, and an officer soon pulled her over, she said.

But when the officer came to speak with them, Kimurry Smith said she was surprised they asked for her husband’s ID, along with hers. The News & Observer asked the police department if that was standard procedure and did not get a response.

The Smiths said they knew there was an outstanding warrant for William Smith’s arrest because he had missed a court appearance last year on a charge of breaking into a car and added they had no intention of resisting.

But they say officers pulled William Smith from the car without asking him to step out on his own, “slamming” him into the ground and handcuffing him, according to a complaint they filed with the police department earlier this month.

“They told me nothing,” William Smith said. “By the time I realized what was going on, I’m airborne.”

The Smiths said he hit the ground hard enough for his gold grill to fall out of his mouth, and added he suffered scrapes, bruises and other wounds during the exchange.

He said he felt an officer knee him on the side as they carried him to the police car.

“In my mind, I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “I’m about to die. That’s what I’m thinking.”

In a video recorded by Kimurry Smith, officers can be seen standing over William Smith and searching him as he lies on the ground with his hands behind his back. The video, which does not depict the start of the exchange, shows the officers lift William Smith by his legs and arms and carry him to a police car.

The incident frightened Kimurry Smith, reminding her of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed last year when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest.

“I’ve seen my husband laying like George Floyd,” Kimurry Smith told The N&O. “I thought my husband was about to lose his life that day.”

The Stop Killing Us Solutions Campaign is supporting the Smiths, and joined them at a news conference calling for a response from Durham police.

In an emailed statement, the Durham Police Department said the incident was under administrative review and that it could not comment on the situation.

The complaint process

When complaints are filed at the police department, the Internal Affairs Unit investigates the allegations, according to the department’s website.

Investigators determine what occurred, whether or not the evidence supports the allegations and write a report.

At the end of the process, disciplinary measures, if warranted, can include coaching and counseling, a written reprimand, suspension, a salary reduction, demotion or termination.

In some cases, the city’s Civilian Police Review Board hears appeals of these determinations, but the board has no disciplinary power and can only examine investigations of complaints, not the actual complaints.

Last summer, the board recommended the Police Department make its internal investigations more public and expand the definition of unbecoming conduct for officers, among other recommendations.

This year, the department had received 20 citizen complaints as of Nov. 15., according to data from Durham police. Of those, three were sustained, while 11 remain pending.

In the remaining six cases, the Internal Affairs Unit determined evidence did not support the allegations, officers were found to have acted properly or the complaints were discontinued.

The department received 23 complaints in 2020 and 38 in 2019. In both years, three complaints were sustained.

‘His past is now haunting him.’

In 2018, William Smith was charged with breaking into a car, the couple said and court records show. He has a court date for it in December.

Kimurry Smith said she and her husband are former gang members who struggled with addiction and homelessness but have worked hard to put their past behind them.

“I met my husband in a tent in a shelter three years ago,” she said. “We give back to the community. We feed the homeless. We clothe the homeless.”

Kimurry Smith added they recently celebrated three years clean from addiction.

“We’re not bad people,” she said. “He’s not a bad person, but his past is now haunting him.”

She said they’ve been unable to find an attorney to take their case.

But some North Carolina advocates have rallied around them.

The Stop Killing Us Solutions Campaign held a news conference this month outside the Durham Police Department’s headquarters on East Main Street.

The Rev. Curtis Gatewood, founder of the campaign and JUSTICE Ministration, said the group wants to prevent the deaths of Black people.

“Some people want to say, ‘Well, he lived through it, so why are you all here?’” he said. “No, you’re not going to jerk us around. You’re not going to treat us like ragdolls and animals.”

“Any officer who uses excessive force to any magnitude, we want that officer terminated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Gatewood said.

The group has called for an impartial investigation, the termination of the officers and financial compensation for the Smiths.

Kimurry Smith echoed the call for the officers’ termination at the news conference, adding she and her husband want an explanation for how he was treated.

“We’re demanding answers,” William Smith said at the conference. “I would at least like to see the body camera footage, because they didn’t answer the question of why I was done so aggressively, and I wasn’t trying to resist.”

Gatewood said he invited the police department to send someone to the newsconference, but no one came.

In a statement, the Durham Police Department said Chief Patrice Andrews “supports everyone being allowed a platform to express their feelings.”

Excessive force cases difficult, expert says

Keith Taylor, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former member of the New York Police Department, said it can be tricky to determine when excessive force is used.

“These incidents are not cookie cutter,” he said. “They’re always different.”

Officers are allowed to use only the level of force necessary in making an arrest, he said, but without a complete picture of what occurred, it can be difficult to say what was required.

“It’s great to have video, but you have to be careful with it,” he said. “It’s one perspective, and it’s very limited.”

On its own, Taylor said he does not believe the video demonstrates a clear case of excessive force, adding it would be important to see the start of the incident.

“From the very limited information that is presented on the video, it appears they’re picking him up,” he said.

He said it’s critical that the police conduct a thorough internal investigation and be as transparent as possible to the community.

In the complaint, the Smiths named five officers they say were involved in the arrest. According to personnel records obtained by The N&O through a public information request, one officer was suspended in 2015, but his record did not say why or for how long. The officer received a raise five months later.

Kimurry Smith said she started recording after her husband was removed from their car, as they didn’t expect officers to use force in the arrest.

The incident has left her and her husband distraught and afraid, she added.

“My husband wakes up in nightmares, screaming ‘Get off me!’” she said.

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