NC Governor Roy Cooper issued a final report from the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice on Tuesday. The project was launched in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder last summer and the racial unrest that followed.
“We want to have clear rules that govern policing practices to develop trust between law enforcement and the community so that they can be successful in keeping everyone safe,” NC Attorney General Josh Stein told Attorney At Law Magazine. Stein co-chaired the task force with Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls.
Among the 125 recommendations made in the report are:
- Reimagine public safety and reinvest in communities to respond more appropriately to situations concerning mental illness, autism, intellectual disabilities, substance abuse, homelessness, and other non-emergency situations;
- Strengthen community policing practices by adopting community policing philosophies and plans in collaboration with the communities that law enforcement serve; and
- Improving law enforcement accountability and culture and expanding investigative and oversight authority of local citizen oversight boards.
The recommendations will be considered by the General Assembly and local governments for implementation over the next several years.
