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ICLE
THE CHRO
Volume 47, Number 22
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
THURSDAY, March 18, 2021
Local NAACP hosts COVID-19
vaccination clinic
BY TEVIN STINSON
THECHRONICLE
Last weekend the
Winston-Salem NAACP
headquarters was trans
formed into a COVID-19
vaccination site. Ahead of
the vaccine clinic held on
Saturday, March 13, 200
people pre-registered to re
ceive the Johnson & John
son vaccine.
The clinic was held in
collaboration with the lo
cal NAACP, the Forsyth
County Department of
Public Health, Wake For
est Baptist Health, Novant
Health and the volunteer
organization Women-In-
Action The event was open
to healthcare workers, se
nior citizens, and frontline
essential workers. Partici
pants had to pre-register
online and schedule an ap
pointment.
On the day of the clin
ic, participants were greet
ed at the door with tem
perature checks and hand
sanitizer before making
their way inside to receive
the vaccine.
When discussing the
clinic, president of the
local NAACP, Al Jab
bar, said it felt good to be
able to bring the clinic to
the people. “We want the
people to know we’re a re
source for the community,
so we were excited when
we had the opportunity to
host a vaccine clinic here,”
he said.
Jabbar said although
he understands why there
is some skepticism when
it comes to receiving vac-
Photos by Tevin Stinson
Last weekend the Winston-Salem NAACP hosted a CO VID-19 vaccination clinic at its headquarters.
During the vaccination clinic at the NAA CP headquarters, 200 people received the
Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
cines, especially in the
Black community, he got
the vaccine and is en
couraging other people to
do the same. Jabbar men
tioned he received the
Modema vaccine a few
weeks ago and aside from
a little soreness in his arm
where he received the shot,
he didn’t show any side ef
fects
“I was skeptical. I’m
73 years old, so I remem
ber what happened in the
past,” he said. “But we
have to understand that
this could save lives, so
I’ve been encouraging
people to get it.”
Clinical Director of
the Department of Health,
Edwin Marshall, said after
seeing where we were at
this time last year, being
able to vaccinate thou
sands of people in one
day is like a dream come
true. Over the weekend,
the Department of Health
also held a vaccine clinic
at the Winston-Salem Fair
grounds, where close to
8,000 people received the
Johnson & Johnson vac
cine.
“I’ve seen this come
full circle from beginning
to end,” Marshall said.
“Hopefully we’re on our
way out of this, but it feels
great to be able to deliver
the education and protec
tion that’s needed.”
The Forsyth County
Department of Public
Health announces open
ings available to receive
the vaccine throughout
the week. For more in
formation, visit https://
www.co.forsyth.nc.us/
publichealth/, or “Forsyth
County Department of
Public Health” on Face-
book.
WSPD launches Aviation Unit using drones
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Sa
lem Police Department
(WSPD) has introduced
a new unit that will use
drones or sUAS (small Un
armed Aircraft System).
During the Public
Safety Committee meeting
on Monday, March 16, As
sistant Chief W.S Weaver
II said the WSPD Avia
tion Unit was established
to provide aerial photog
raphy for documentation
of crime scenes and police
response incidents in the
city, including missing
persons, large event moni
toring, hazmat incidents,
large fire scenes, severe
weather response, and sus
picious packages.
Weaver said he was
aware of community con
cerns about potential inva
sions of privacy and that
the sUAS would not be
used as a general surveil
lance platform. The drones
are not equipped with fa
cial recognition software
and they don’t have the
capability to monitor con r
versations between people.
“We at the WSPD are
familiar with the concerns
of the American Civil
Liberties Union regard
ing law enforcement use
of this technology and we
have utilized information
from their organization
to maintain trust with our
community. We will not be
flying into our residents’
backyards, looking into
www.wschronicle.com
their windows to invade
their privacy,” Weaver
continued. “Law enforce
ment across our nation is
struggling with maintain
ing trust within out com
munities and we at the
WSPD have been engaged
with building trust through
community oriented polic
ing since 1989. We will not
allow the missuse of tech
nology to erode our trust
with the community.”
Currently the WSPD
has four drones total, but
they plan to add more
throughout the year and
train more pilots. In order
to pilot a drone for the
WSPD, you have to be li
censed with FAA (Federal
Aviation Administration)
and pass a training course.
After watching a brief
video that showed how the
drones work, members of
the Public Safety Commit
tee and the Winston-Salem
City Council had the op
portunity to share their
thoughts and ask questions
about the drones and the
Aviation Unit. Chair of the
Public Safety Committee,
James Taylor, who is also
publisher of The Chroni
cle, said, “As technology
continues to evolve and
expand, we have to keep
up with that technology to
better serve our citizens.”
Councilmember Kev
in Mundy encouraged
the WSPD and the city’s
marketing team to ensure
that the people know how
the drones will be used.
Although he applauded
Weaver for detailing how
the drones will be used,
Mundy said there needs to
be a plan to introduce the
unit to the community.
“There are people who
are going to disagree with
this,” Mundy continued.
”We need to have a PR
plan before we introduce
this to the public.”
According to Assistant
Chief Weaver, the WSPD
Aviation Unit is expected
to go live sometime this
week. Weaver also men
tioned that they are work
ing with the city’s market
ing department to let the
community know about
the new unit.
“We’ve been able to
work with city marketing
and communications to be
able to push the word out
and as we start receiving
comments, whether good
or bad, from our citizens,
we’ll take those into con
sideration,” he said. “We
will be stepping forward
and telling the people what
we’re.doing as far as trying
to ensure we’re still main
taining their trust with the
use of this technology.”