ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — Police reform was front and center at the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners meeting Monday night.
In April of 2021, deputies with the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office shot and killed 42-year-old Andrew Brown Jr. while serving warrants. District Attorney Andrew Womble, in a display of body camera footage to media last year, said he would not seek charges for the death of Brown Jr. and called the law enforcement response to the incident "justified."
Since then, Pasquotank County has moved forward with a 13-person body called the "Citizen's Advisory Panel", meant to act as a community watchdog over local law enforcement. Now, Pasquotank County leaders want to further improve transparency between the body, community and law enforcement.
“No other North Carolina county has the authority to review a citizen’s complaint. This would be a historic step for us," Pasquotank County Manager Sparty Hammett told 13News Now Monday.
At their Commissioner's meeting, county leaders discussed the passing of a "local act" that would allow the body to review appeals of citizen complaints against the sheriff's office.
In the event that any one citizen wanted to appeal the findings or conclusion of their complaint, if passed, the body would then have access to review limited but additional documentation and information that specifically pertained to the complaint, and offer further insight into that decision making process.
"Right now, in the state of North Carolina, that personnel information and internal investigation is protected by statute, which is why there are only four cities that have the authority to review citizen complaints. Each of those four cities have some kind of legislation in place, similar to what we're asking for," Hammett said.
County elected leaders need the help of state lawmakers for this effort to advance. Hammett said they hope it's an issue brought to the North Carolina General Assembly special session later this May.
If passed, Pasquotank County would become the first county in the Tar Heel state to have this level of power in its community-based review board.