Mayor Nancy Vaughan said that studying the use of the “Ripp Hobble” and other restraints the police use was just the kind of thing that the Greensboro Criminal Justice Advisory Commission (GCJAC) should do.
Greensboro Police Chief Wayne Scott altered the use of the Ripp Hobble by the Greensboro Police Department after it was found to be a contributing factor in the death of Marcus Deon Smith on Sept. 8. The Ripp Hobble is a restraint that binds the ankles together and then a strap is used to tether the ankles to the handcuffs of a person in custody.
Police had placed the Ripp Hobble restraint on Smith and shortly after Smith stopped breathing. The restraint was immediately removed and Smith was transported by ambulance to Cone Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
After that incident, Scott ordered the Greensboro police not to use the Ripp Hobble except to bind a person’s ankles together and appointed a task force to investigate the best methods of restraining those in police custody.
Tom Phillips, an executive committee member of GCJAC agreed with Vaughan. He said, “That would be the perfect kind of thing for us to investigate. Rather than the chief setting up his own task force, he should use an organization like the Advisory Commission [GCJAC] to look at things like that.”
After months of planning the city had to get a special bill rushed through on the last day of the North Carolina Legislature in 2018 to establish GCJAC and it held its first meeting in September.
Phillips said they had been concentrating on an education program for high school students, but would welcome the chance to look into a police procedure like restraining those in custody. He said, “There is tremendous potential for what we could do, if we can get going and they will use us.”
Phillips said that while GCJAC could decide on its own to start such an investigation, it would be better if they were asked either by the police chief or the City Council because that would get the ball rolling. He said that so far no one had asked.
Currently GCJAC is having a problem because two members of the executive committee Irving Allen and Cherizar Crippen don’t want to sign the confidentiality agreement that is necessary for the commission to legally view confidential personnel material.
So let me see if I have this right…people with no law enforcement field experience on a committee that had to “rushed through” the legislature to make legal (if I’m wrong, please enlighten me) are going to dictate to the police department what they can and cannot do in their area of expertise. For Greensboro that makes perfect sense.
The Greensboro Criminal Justice Advisory Commission doesn’t “dictate” to the police department. It is an advisory commission. Ideally it would work with the police department and make a recommendation.
The bill had to be rushed through the legislature because Greensboro refuses to recognize that the state legislature is controlled by Republicans. The first iteration of the bill was introduced by Democratic Sen. Gladys Robinson and Democratic Rep. Pricey Harrison. There were several parts of the bill Republicans didn’t like and the bills went to the Rules Committees in the Senate and the House. In the final days of the legislative session, someone from Greensboro wised up. The bill was rewritten to conform with what the Republican majority would approve and the new bill was introduced by former Republican Sen. Trudy Wade and Republican Rep. Jon Hardister. It passed on the final day of the legislative session.
Hi John,
Is there truly a legal requirement to sign a confidentiality agreement to view personnel material or is that something some department of city government is imposing on commission members? I am aware that state law prohibits the public release of certain personnel records, but I’m not aware the it requires a “confidentiality agreement” to be signed by those who are granted access to such materials. If it’s not a law, where is that demand coming from and under what authority?
I believe there is a legal requirement. It was the intent of the legislature that commission members not be allowed to share the confidential material and pinky swears are not generally recognized by the courts.
Also: Two ways to liven up your “e-paper”:
1. Allow comments to be posted in real time. You can moderate them after the fact if you must, but the time lag is not suitable to modern online communication.
2. Add a comment widget to your sidebar so that people can see the latest comments and know where to find articles that have some discussion going on.
I’m hurt that you think my time is not real. It seems so real to me.
Before long. GPD, that put their lives on the line for all of Greensboro, will have a check list to go down as they are struggling with a possible problem. Yeah , says we can handcuff them but got to use the foam padded ones. And don’t even think about chasing somebody , they might pull a hammy and sue the city who will gladly pay them. Makes my stomach hurt thinking how people that have never put themselves in danger, having to make split second decisions on the spot , can sit back on their respective fat butts and dictate to our police . Common sense people .
Not so sure you know the expertise of the commission members, Mr. Marshall. You might be surprised…