North Carolina police chiefs shared a message that they fight against racism and brutality as part of police culture too.
"We will never condone the behavior of law enforcement who use unnecessary force," Roxboro Police Chief David Hess said during a public service announcement created for the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police.
Hess set the tone as deliberate and serious. The video discussed the association’s involvement in fighting for police accountability, ABC11 reported on June 16. The PSA, released on social media, also explains “8 Can’t Wait,” a series of professional policing standards for use of force situations.
The policing standards include a ban on chokeholds and strangleholds, a warning before shooting, the requirement to intervene when excessive force is used, mandatory de-escalation training, banning shooting at moving vehicles, exhausting all alternatives before shooting and all uses of force must be recorded, ABC 11 reported.
"Each community is unique, so those who want to influence change in their community, your police chief is ready to sit down at the table and have those conversations," Hess told ABC11. "But everyone at the table will have to be willing to accept certain changes and not accept other changes."
Police chiefs want people to meet with law enforcement officials to learn about policies and to determine if they are being used effectively in their own communities, Hess told ABC11.
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