Dear Council Members, I attended last nights Hanukkah/Black Lives Matter gathering in CCB Plaza. It was a moving event, as some of you who were there can attest. Afterwards, in conversation, someone mentioned to me having seen several busloads of riot gear equipped police officers staged near the DPAC. I was not able to verify this for myself, but perhaps you can definitively confirm or deny this. In further online conversation today regarding police tactics at previous demonstrations, someone made the following comment in response to televised footage appearing to show DPD officers wearing gas masks at an event at which DPDs report states unequivocally that they were not: Deputy Chief Marsh told me this morning he does not believe these are gas masks. He stated he believed them to be balaclavas worn by members of the Selective Enforcement Team. I have a few questions regarding this. First, City Council reiterated this week both its support for DPD and its regulations requiring that demonstrators not wear masks. I assume that the regulation against masks is to prevent or deter violence from citizens who cannot be identified subsequently. Im not sure why the police should not be held to similar standards as representatives of the community. Balaclavas are not part of a standard police uniform, and serve to discourage person-to-person interaction. As many of you are no doubt aware, the lack of personification (or, to use a Sociology 101 term, dehumanization) of the participants on either side of a political demonstration is often a precipitating factor in violent escalations. A definitive statement on policy from Durham City Council on this recent development, something other than a blanket statement of support for DPDs actions, would be very useful to the community at this time. Second, what is a Selective Enforcement Team, and what does it do? How does it select exactly what is to be enforced, and against whom? Again, a definitive statement from our elected leadership on this would be very helpful. Yours in the spirit of the season, Barry Ragin
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 19:29:14 +0000