Many of the commenters during Asheville City Council’s June 9 meeting called for the resignation of Asheville Police Chief David Zack and Mayor Esther Manheimer. Many more called for the immediate defunding of the APD. The comments came at the end of a five-hour meeting held virtually and fraught with technical difficulties.
Instead of voting on Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell’s proposed budget on Tuesday, June 23, as originally planned, City Council will now consider an interim budget on that date. The move, coming after a wave of public comment to “defund the Asheville Police Department,” is meant to bridge the gap before a new budget can be reworked with additional community engagement.
A portion of City Council’s meeting on Tuesday, June 9 will be dedicated for an update on city policing. According to City Manager Debra Campbell’s proposed budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year, the APD is slated to receive $30,057,325 — an increase of $457,621, or 1.5%, from the department’s current budget.
Police chief describes strike against medic station as preemptive because water bottles have been thrown on previous nights.
Tensions were high as downtown Asheville prepared for another night of anticipated protests, despite a new citywide curfew that will go into effect at 8 p.m.
After a peaceful demonstration of thousands in downtown Asheville turned violent around 10:30 p.m. on Monday evening, some attendees smashed windows and spray-painted graffiti on downtown buildings and the Vance Monument.
Asheville Police used tear gas and rubber bullets as demonstrators protested police brutality and racial injustice the evening of May 31.
Over the past month, local criminal justice officials have collaborated to reduce the number of people held at the Buncombe County Detention Facility by nearly 40%. Those efforts are aimed at helping limit the potential spread of COVID-19 among incarcerated people and community members.
At a March 24 press conference, Fletcher Tove, Buncombe County’s emergency preparedness coordinator, said public health staff were finalizing a new supplemental state of emergency declaration that would mandate a “stay home, stay safe” approach to fighting the spread of the disease.
Unlike other local instances of the disease caused by the new coronavirus, explained Dr. Jennifer Mullendore, county health workers had been unable to trace at least two cases to a specific source — suggesting that the infection is spreading within the county at large.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
As part of a Feb. 14 “Valentine for the Earth” action organized by Extinction Rebellion WNC, the local chapter of the global environmental movement Extinction Rebellion, the Asheville Police Department arrested 16 protesters for obstructing traffic in front of the Veach-Baley Federal Complex on Patton Avenue.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
“In the final analysis, the dehumanizing discourse of ‘removing undesirables,’ which has become sadly normalized and increasingly vicious as of late, is irreconcilable with achieving the county’s stated goals.”
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
After less than two months in his position, Chief Chris Bailey has announced his resignation from the Asheville Police Department.
“Nothing like this, to my knowledge, has ever happened in the 20-plus years I’ve been walking dogs in Beverly Hills. So the incident is shocking.”
Civil Service Board Chair Carol Goins voted against her colleagues in a 4-1 decision finding that former Asheville Police Department Capt. Mark Byrd’s firing by former Chief Tammy Hooper was not justified and ordering the city to reach “a just conclusion of the matter.” The board’s reasons for that decision were discussed during its first closed session in at least three years.
“I realize that this is an intrusion on citizens’ privacy, but I believe that citizens would prefer giving up privacy to being shot.”
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
