People's victory
with the black aldermen on this
issue, this was not a race issue, but
a fundamental human rights issue.
nl believe in the people in this
community and 1 trust and respect
that they will work hard to make
this work," Mayor Wood comment
ed. "Nobody wants this police
review board to end up being a
witch hunt, but the needs of this
community had to be addressed. 1
tried hard to hear the message of
what the people were saying,* she
added.
During an emotional speech
Alderman Burke said she was upset
that the vote was not unanimous.
"Years ago when I said this was one
ip|u
lllilfc
JR cut Potter. 42, * bU<*
allegedly beaten by a
number of officers last Wednes
day around U p.m. at Forest
iftidtflAoaitmenis,
lllg Witnesses tbatnightsaid
MKH who Jives at 410 Mv
% Veroon Ave. and has the nick?
\ na|l?e "Stranger." was attacked
^SfcSSfc? "* T
surrounded by at least seven oth- .
^brs before hd was handcuffed and
M?K:al:?nd rush over to my
JiSncle/' saidFred^fortii^iWi 1
beg out of
^brok<t Then one |
cere) asked him for ,
bim stiii
MtoehliiJ
h? guest preached
urches;5- V- 1
_ |?| Vietnam veteran
MMpSMih
-* * ?b? rccipient of three
Purplfpeartmedals #nd #
I President's Citation for Extract
Heroism; He served as an
mttffiM lot the People tot
I^opleprogram, teaching the
iMewpew how to speak
tSSj:
fci
^^Wttapger is one oC the moei
Jttjwaabl# guys around here. Be
|s always helping people oat and
t talking with the little US
M^ae|WBaras, 34, a resident
I 1 Ml
I /Everybody runs from h|a#|
*?** he*# going
After he was released H
v;:;"'(CouWy m ftiday, V(*? |
HWrned to the scene of
to give his account |g|
'ii ihnh
efore the incident with
,??? leave, the
suspecting that they were
mmw NH|fc Soon afterwards,
?Hii i i i
- x % ?
Continued from page A||l
.
the police arrived and proceeded
to interrogate him, be said. Potter ,
said Officer S.K. Pratt initiated (
the incident by first grabbing his
right artn and pushing him to the
ground after he told them he did
not have any identification. Pot
ter said be offered to cooperated
with the officer. xMl Bp
Police accounts differ from
much of Potter's story and
? accounts of witnesses, 3$;S:#|I||S;
jl The incident i$ Hi under
investigation.
Chief George Sweat made a
statement that his officers acted?l
appropriately. Later he |al<K
was premature to iftake t|ina|?
statement of wheth^o^o^
excessive force was usedl^lil
v The 1991 figures indicated
SiSS
\'?sn!'av;
Iss
lhattho department received $t
Mlnplaintt on officers. ninlMj|
which wow sustained. 811 Ig
S with the rising eo^#|
one complaint. Sweat said* &o?ifc
too many,
?;:#? we don't have ai?? excessive
- ^'I'While some say the cultural! |
|diflf!s?ni^' between White* an#;
blacks are so vast, Sweat said the
department works hard to pro?
ment wis aware that different -
^?S mBNt*
patrol
: -Li. i-xVv
|||
total of 421 awraroV^pH
Wack
AWiTmT.TR ?,
; w utog officenso we Mgg|
Jthat gap" he said; 1 Ifl 8 M$fl
Responding to statements
;that officers in the past have
? wys* !Slteb??s
were not tolerated. SgMMfMP
f; |P haw ? wieofcomliKtl
go off using profanity at citizens.
It's just not acceptable and not
expected," Sweat saidC* lis tg | , li
- Captain 0{0. Cornata* of |
the IntertdT Amirs Division .laid
-r: ... . ...
ijpontfj
plaints were few compared to the ?1
number of internal complaints
made last yeat *|Ji4? is low com* |
pared to the list complaints;;
made by; supervisors againstoffi- ^
cers* said Comatzer. He said of
those complaints. 145 were su$? I
Atvt'f urifi Am- ivn ^
are trying hard internally to take
can&of any/violations," he con*
tinued.
fell Comatzer said %i^? jtyfi.*
eate that officers handled
123344 calls for police assis
tance lor l991 and made over
illOOO arrests. "We have to
remember:: that;&6 matter what, *
15 8 human being.
pKlPittt to get stressed oat
Sometimes. And if he breaks any
violations, he's also going to set
punished We know (police bru
tatlt?} happens, but look how
felines it does, the chief
Want* that number to get even
Mtoeivl^tont know if it will
ever bepetfecCCornatzer said.
Give
Another Chance.
Give Blood. +
American Red Cross
Continued from page A1
of the most racist cities, I was criti
cized," she said. Burke continued
by saying that if white citizens were
at the forefront, calling for a citi
zens police review board, they
would not get any "hassle."
"I am hurt that black people
have to continue to beg for some
thing this simple," she said. But
Burke, who is also the chair of the
Public Safety Committee said she
was finally glad the community
won.
The Public Safety Committee
will begin working oh the details
and the structure of the citizens
police review board at their next
meeting.
Citizens United for Justice is
also working on ideas and sugges
tions for the new review board to
offer to the committee.
But the emotion did not end
with Burke. Citizens gathered on
the lobby and celebrated with
prayer and soulful testimonies.
Alderman Larry Womble, along
with Burke and Newell, were soon
greeted with cheers while exiting
City Hall Monday night
Womble, who had worked
closely with the citizens in pushing
for the citizens police review board,
said he was proud that the commu
nity came out to show their support.
"We need to do more of this. (The
community) was on one accord and
it showed that the board is compas
sionate to their needs."
Many citizens ? some who
made it in time to grab a seat and
others who patiently stood outside
the overcrowded board room listen
ing ? were relieved with the vote
and complained that it was long
overdue.
Walter Marshall, past president
of the local NAACP, said he has
worked since 1977 to get the citi
zen's police review board imple
mented. "In 1988 we had more
cases, but we didn't have this kind
of support. It's the people who made
this happen," he added.
The reverends Carlton Eversley
and John Mendez ? both members
of Citizens United for Justice ?
said they were pleased that democ
racy was working in Winston-Salem
and were glad the mayor had an
open mind about the issue.
"This was a democracy of the
power of the people," said Eversley.
"This a people's victory," said
Mendez.
Another citizen attending the
meeting was Carl Potter, the black
man whose bout with the police last
Wednesday called for an investiga
tion of police brutality.
"Now we have something to
put them in check so they can be
mindful of their own (behavior),"
said Potter. Tm feeling fine just to
look around here and see all of
these people," he added.
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