Yates investigation stalled until end of January

Residents who have called for an independent investigation into the November police raid of an “Occupy Everywhere” protest must wait at least a week to learn if their request will be funded.

After nearly three hours of discussion, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted Monday night to refer the petition for funds to town staff before it continues to debate the request Jan. 30.

The request came after Town Manager Roger Stancil supported police actions in a Jan. 6 review of the raid.

Residents have said the town’s review did not thoroughly investigate the police’s actions, and some disagreed with Stancil’s assertion that protestors — some of who police said were known anarchists — might have been dangerous.

After protests following the report’s release, the council asked Community Policing Advisory Committee to review the report. The group looked into it and recommended hiring an independent investigator to provide an unbiased report.

According to its report to the council, the advisory committee believes an independent investigation could answer questions that went unaddressed in the original investigation, which was conducted internally and relied on town officials.

But to conduct the external review, the committee asked the council for funds to hire the third party investigator.

“The community expects us to make a fair review involving the facts involving the Yates incident,” said Ron Bogle, chairman of the committee.

Bogle said the committee was created to develop policies that reflect community expectation, but it will need more resources to do its job effectively.

But the council decided to have Chapel Hill Chief of Police Chris Blue and Stancil review the questions before the council revisits hiring an investigator.

Council member Matt Czajkowski said the council’s stance on the independent review has changed now that there is a cost attached to the proposal.

“I have a hard time voting to take money from other programs for an investigation of an illegal act that the town has found itself dealing with,” Czajkowski said.

And costliness wasn’t the only issue that deterred council members from accepting the proposal.

The committee report states that an investigator would be unable to compel people to be interviewed, and an investigator could not punish those who lie.

“While clearly there will be people who are not willing to be questioned by the investigator in any form, additionally there is no requirement against perjury, and we could end up with statements that are intentionally false,” Czajkowski said.

Council member Jim Ward said the product of the independent investigation would be flawed because of its limitations.

But Chapel Hill resident Jim Neal, who drafted a petition to create an independent resident-led review, said he believes the review was heavily biased.

Though the council did not approve his call for a resident-led group, Neal said the goals of an independent investigation match those he outlined in his petition.

And despite its costs and limitations, Neal said he believes the independent review is needed.

“It was like a report by the foxes about the conditions in the henhouse.”

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