North Charleston residents have been calling for a racial bias audit of their police department for years. This week, we explain the results of the long-awaited report, which was presented to the community this month.
North Charleston residents have been calling for a racial bias audit of their police department for years.
Community members and activists have said for a long time that officers overpolice Black residents in their city, which is the third-largest in South Carolina. It's also the community where Walter Scott, a 50-year-old Black man, was gunned down while trying to flee a police officer.
That was six years ago.
A racial bias audit just got underway there last fall, and findings were presented to the community this month.
This week on Understand SC, breaking news and public safety reporter Steve Garrison explains what the audit showed, what researchers recommend North Charleston police do to improve and what community members had to say about the findings.
We also have an update on a story covered by this podcast in May: the death of Jamal Sutherland at Charleston County's jail. This week, Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said that the two deputies who tried to remove Sutherland from his cell using Tasers, pepper spray and physical force would not be criminally charged.
We go over some of Wilson's explanation and what the Sutherland family said in response to the decision.