Community-led Information Session Raises Questions Over Proposed Police Department Merger

About 45 Carrboro residents turned out on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 7, at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park to question and express outrage over the proposed merger of the Carrboro and Chapel Hill police departments, and to outline next steps.

“Something is rotten in the hamlet of Carrboro,” former Town Council member Randee Haven-O’Donnell told attendees. “We want to know who knew what and when. We must hold the Council accountable.”

Those at the meeting said Town Manager Patrice Toney had not established why a merger was needed; that the process had not been transparent; and they feared being disenfranchised if management of the town’s police force moved to Chapel Hill.

Toney's proposal to consolidate the police departments caught many by surprise when it came to light in early-October mainly via online forums and social media.  Toney has since said merging the two departments will “build upon the strengths of both departments, expand our capacity, create efficiencies and deliver a high standard of service to the people we serve.” The move would also save the town $3 million a year beginning three years after the consolidation, she said.

In slides to be presented at the Council’s meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 10, Toney sets out the case for a merger due to mounting budget pressures.

“We have no way to know if [the proposal] is good or bad” from a financial standpoint, said longtime resident Linda Haac, who pointed out capital expenditures the town was undertaking including renovating or rebuilding the Century Center and the longstanding Bolin Creek Greenway project. In addition, with the recent passage of the NC constitutional amendment limiting property tax levies, local governments will face increased financial pressure, she said, urging a comprehensive – and transparent – analysis of town finances. “It’s a numbers game,” she said. “This is not the way you manage a town being fiscally responsible.”

A handout distributed at the meeting read: “If town leaders think we can’t afford our police force, a town conversation on the ENTIRE budget should occur before rushing into an unprecedented ceding of police authority to another municipality.”

Gayle Silver, owner of FIT On Main, questioned whether a merged force would be as responsive to local businesses and as committed to community policing as the current Carrboro officers are.

“Carrboro’s officers do more than enforce laws,” she said. “They know our community, work alongside social workers, respond to mental health crises, and help protect both businesses and vulnerable residents. So when we learned that the police force would have barely half of the street officers we have now, and most of those will not be Carrboro-centric people, it causes us to get worried because it's contradictory to what the manager has been saying, that community matters.”

Several attendees voiced concern about Carrboro police officers having to retrain and retest to conform with Chapel Hill policing policies, as required by state law. The handout also noted that local officers had not been involved in reviewing the details of any interlocal agreement.

Everyone at the meeting was encouraged to attend Tuesday night’s Town Council meeting armed with pointed questions for council members. The plan is to gather at 5:15 pm on the Town Hall lawn for a rally before attending the council meeting at 6pm.

As resident Diane Robertson told the assembly on Saturday, residents want to know, “What is the problem [prompting this proposal]? And what are the ways – multiple possible ways – to solve the problem?”