gchildress@heraldsun.com; 918-1046
CHAPEL HILL -- Comparing the Police Department's report on the alleged racial profiling of a downtown businessman to a fox guarding a chicken coop, the local NAACP has called for the establishment of a citizen review board to render impartial judgments in cases of alleged police misconduct.
The Police Department's investigation of the incident involving barbershop owner Charles Brown found that officers acted properly when they detained and handcuffed Brown for nearly 40 minutes after he left his E. Rosemary Street shop shortly after 11:30 p.m. on June 1.
"What this points out is the need for an independent body to quickly investigate allegations of police misconduct," said Al McSurely, Brown's attorney and chairman of the NAACP's Legal Redress Committee.
NAACP leaders will discuss the Police Department's report and consider the civil rights organization's next response during a regularly scheduled meeting at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Hargraves Public Meeting Room.
Councilwoman Sally Greene said she supports the Police Department, but also favors a citizen review board. She said the town was denied authority to create an oversight board during the last legislative session.
The Police Department's investigation was conducted by Police Capt. Jeff Clark, who recommended that all officers involved should be exonerated of wrongdoing in the matter, which all agree was a case of mistaken identity.
Officer David Funk mistook Brown for Cumun Fearrington, a man with outstanding warrants whom police contend has similar features to those of Brown.
McSurely acknowledges that Brown and Fearrington have similar facial features, but said that is where the similarities end.
He said the matter should have been cleared up quickly after Brown showed his driver's license.
"The thing we know is that many young black men have been arrested and harassed by these same people and are coming forward to tell stories about what's happening to them," McSurely said. "This is the tip of the iceberg of stereotypical stops and arrests."
Last month, several young black males waiting for haircuts at Brown's barbershop told The Chapel Hill Herald that they noticed an increased harassment from police since former UNC student government president Eve Carson was killed by two young black males in 2008.
The NAACP took issue with several findings in Clark's report, including the assertion that Brown was in "investigative detention" as opposed to being under arrest.
"Officer Funk said, 'You are under arrest, Mr. Fearrington' to Mr. Brown. Officer Funk handcuffed the Chapel Hill businessman, and held him for at least 50 minutes in public. Mr. Brown was not free to go and would have been seriously hurt or killed if he had tried to continue walking home. This was not an 'investigative detention,'" the response said.
The NAACP also questioned Clark's ability to be fair and impartial.
"The NAACP has a good opinion of Capt. Jeff Clark, but he is placed in a double-bind when he is forced to do a thorough investigation of the men he must lead and command," officials said in the NAACP's response.
