If only one police officer at the arrest of George Floyd had said, “Enough.” That’s all it would have taken to avert a tragedy — this time, anyway. So many of us across the country are reeling with shock and anger and despair. Six year ago, we were aghast when Eric Garner struggled against getting […]
All posts in category Police
The cost of appearances
There we go again. Dipping into our savings to pay for nonessentials. Living beyond our means. Our new town manager presented his recommended budget, a 3.7% increase over what we spent the prior year, which would require only a 1.6-cent property tax increase (per every $100 of property valuation). The hiring process for our town […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 20, 2019
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2019/05/20/the-cost-of-appearances/
Sanctuary city
A couple of years ago, after Donald Trump had taken office and begun threatening punishments to sanctuary cities, a member of the Justice in Action Committee proposed that Chapel Hill take a stand and declare itself a sanctuary city. After all, the committee member pointed out, we behave like one. My response at the time […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 15, 2019
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2019/04/15/sanctuary-city/
How Generous Can We Afford to Be?
Richard Jenrette snagged his dream job right out of college — sportswriter for the N&O. A few years into it, though, he looked around and noticed that newspaper people didn’t make much money. He enrolled in Harvard Business School to learn a more lucrative trade. Jenrette, the “J” in the enormously successful brokerage firm DLJ […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 11, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/06/11/how-generous-can-we-afford-to-be/
Reverse Town Hall
North Carolina has 77 pages of gun laws on its books. But can they be enforced? A panel of 16 high school and college students discussed gun violence at a reverse town hall organized by the UNC Institute for Politics. The IOP invited four legislators from the N.C. General Assembly to pose questions to the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 23, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/04/23/reverse-town-hall/
Noisy Neighbors
Chapel Hill’s noise ordinance aims to ensure reasonable peace and quiet for residents in their homes. Typically, people use the law to rein in loud parties or construction projects that go on into the wee hours of the morning. Does that mean people who work from home or cover night shifts and sleep during the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 12, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/03/12/noisy-neighbors/
Second chances
“Saving lives” likely did not appear in the job description when Beatrice Thompson signed on to work at the Red Roof Inn just off the I-40/U.S.-15-501 interchange. Yet for the man she found unresponsive in a hotel room last month, her prior knowledge of CPR made the difference between life and death. She performed chest […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 5, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/02/05/second-chances/
Talk, listen, change
Former UNC Police Officer Keith Edwards, the first black woman on the force, objected to a less-experienced white male officer getting a promotion and raise ahead of her. One day when she walked into the campus police office, she overheard two white male officers complaining about the ensuing court case. “I wish Keith had never […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 31, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/10/31/talk-listen-change/
Powering through
Have we learned nothing? Last week a female student at UNC held a news conference to claim that a classmate, a member of the football team, raped her. She was pursuing misdemeanor charges against him because the campus police had refused to file charges, and the district attorney’s office declined as well (though after the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 19, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/09/19/powering-through/
Best practices, best officers
In North Carolina, a barber needs 1,000 hours of training to get licensed. A law enforcement officer receives 616 hours. As society and circumstances change — think the closing of mental health facilities at the turn of this century that left law enforcement officers to intervene when a mentally ill person posed harm to the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 22, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/08/22/best-practices-best-officers/