APD 2017 Annual Report 08212018

ASHEVILLE

POLICE

D E PA R T M E N T

2017 ANNUAL REPORT

02 ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT

Table of Contents

05 Letter to the Community
07 Vision Statement
11 APD Division Map
13 Decrease in Use of Force Incidents
15 Commitment to Community Policing
17 Training
19 Access to Asheville Police Data
21 CALEA Re-Acreditation
23 Property & Evidence Room Inventory and Purge Completed
25 Crime Statistics
26 Employee Recognition

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04

TO OUR RESIDENTS,

The Asheville Police Department is committed to strengthening community relationships while providing
the highest level of service to keep our residents safe. Over the past year, we made progress in being a
leading professional, progressive and community focused police department. However, progress is not
perfection. Challenges we faced provided us the opportunity to enhance transparency and accountability
in order to ensure public trust.

This report provides an overview of our commitment to continuous improvement by highlighting
accomplishments for 2017, including:

• 61% decrease in overall use of force incidents
• Commitment to community policing as outlined by the Task Force on 21st Century Policing
• 8,192 hours of training for officers, including de-escalation training for all officers
• Enhanced access to Asheville Police data through online tools
• CALEA Re-Accreditation
• Evidence room inventory completed

We will continue to work with the community and its leaders to build upon trust, transparency and
accountability - all of which are key components for strong police-community relations. The members of
our department work diligently every day to ensure the safety of our residents and their quality of life.
I am proud to serve with such an outstanding group of law enforcement professionals.

Thank you,

Tammy Hooper
Chief of Police

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VISION STATEMENT
The Asheville Police Department is committed to being the leading professional, progressive, and community focused police department in the State of North
Carolina by promoting the highest standards of performance, best practices, and accountability that reflect our values and those of the community we serve.
We are united in partnership with our community and city in our commitment to addressing crime, violence, and quality-of-life issues through modern, evi-
dence based strategies integrated with proven problem solving tactics and adherence to the principles of community policing.
The Asheville Police Department is accountable to protect our citizens by enforcing the laws of the State of North Carolina and upholding the United States
Constitution through fair and impartial policing, treating all individuals with dignity and respect.
We strive to hire, retain, and promote the most talented and loyal officers and staff who demonstrate the highest level of integrity and dedicated to our profes-
sion by ensuring access to training, development and advancement opportunities, providing clear communication of our expectations, and rewarding innova-
tion and commitment to duty.

ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 07

AVL QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE APD

• Estimated City Population: 89,121 • The Asheville Police Department is the largest law
• On average, 29,800 people visit Buncombe County each enforcement agency in Western North Carolina.

day, with an additional 44,000 people commuting in for • In 2017 the Asheville Police Department responded to
work. 163,363 calls for service, approximately 13,613 per
• Total Miles of City Streets - 405.3 square miles month. This in an increase in 4.65% from 2016 calls for
• Total Square Miles - 45.74 square miles service.

08 • The Asheville Police Department is the only fully
accredited agency in Western North Carolina. Out of
approximately 500 law enforcement agencies in North
Carolina, less than 10 percent are fully CALEA accredited.

APD EMPLOYEES ABOUT ASHEVILLE

• 238 authorized sworn positions • Forbes Travel Guide listed Asheville as one of the
• 63 authorized non-sworn positions “18 Top Destinations of 2018”
• 23 volunteers
• National Geographic Traveler named Asheville as one of
the “Best US Small Cities for 2018”

• CNN Travel listed Asheville as one of the “18 Best Place
to Visit in 2018”

• TripAdvisor listed Asheville as one of the “30 Top USA
cities to Visit in 2018”

09

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APD Divisions

Adam District (West Asheville)
970 Haywood Road, Asheville
Lieutenant: Jackie Stepp
Sergeants: Evan Flander, James French,
Ann Fowler, Ricardo Martinez
Community Resource Officer: Kevin Skonieczny

Baker District (East and South Asheville)
711 Fairview Road, Asheville
1 Pond Street, Skyland
Lieutenant: Michael McClanahan
Sergeants: James Boyce, Christopher Byers,
Tyler Radford, Angela Tullis
Community Resource Officer: Joshua Veridal

Charlie District (West Asheville)
29 Haywood Street, Asheville
Lieutenant: Joe Silberman
Sergeants: Noland Brown, Josh Hill,
Melissa Lackey, John Zeigler
Community Resource Officer: Justin Wilson

Downtown Asheville
29 Haywood Street, Asheville
Lieutenant: Lt. Mike Yelton
Sergeants: Lucas Lovelace, Lisa Taube

ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 11

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Decrease in Use of Force Incidents The Asheville Police Department releases an annual Professional Standards
report. The yearly report provides a comprehensive picture of the Asheville
In calendar year 2017 the Asheville Police Department saw a significant Police Department’s performance. The report analyzes the department’s
61% decrease in overall use of force incidents. The revised Use of Force vehicle pursuits, use of force, assaults on officers, bias based policing and
policy is one of a number of factors that has contributed to the dramatic administrative investigations for the previous calendar year. The report is
decrease. available on the Asheville Police Department website (www.ashevillenc.gov/
police).
On May 5, 2017 the Asheville Police Department implemented a revised
Use of Force policy based on recommendations from community members
who served on the Community Police Policy Work Group. The revised policy,
which emphasizes de-escalation and accountability, holds Asheville Police
Department officers to a higher standard than North Carolina general
statute. This policy, and the community-oriented revision process, has
become nationally recognized as the new standard for law enforcement
agencies. This is directly in line with the Asheville Police Department’s
commitment to being the leading professional, progressive and community
focused police department in North Carolina.

Additional factors which may have contributed to the substantial reduction
in use of force:

• Full deployment of body worn cameras to operations personnel.
• Review of all use of force incidents by the chain of command and

Professional Standards.

• Mandatory de-escalation training for all officers in the first half of

2017.

• The department’s increased emphasis on de-escalation.
• Requirement for a supervisor to respond to the scene and conduct a

preliminary review of all use of force incidents.

ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 13

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Commitment to Community Policing speaking to her he learned that she was on her way to visit her grandson,
Ayden, at Mission Hospital. Ayden has been battling leukemia since he
The Asheville Police Department is committed to being the leading was two years old. After hearing this story, Officer Smith and members of
professional, progressive and community focused police department in his Baker District team brought Ayden some early Christmas gifts and a
North Carolina. We adhere to the best practices outlined by the Task Force get well card. The kindness demonstrated by Officer Smith was one of the
on 21st Century Policing. Community Policing is one of the six topic areas, highlights of Ayden’s year!
or pillars, identified by the task force. Community policing emphasizes
working in partnership with residents to identify problems and collaborate Partnership with Asheville City Schools
on solutions that produce meaningful results for the communities affected.
• School Resource Officers - SROs work diligently to ensure the safety
APD places a high value on the time officers spend engaging with the
community. It allows the department to maintain existing relationships and security of all students and staff on Asheville City Schools
and form new relationships with residents and business owners, as well campuses. We currently have five full-time SROs who are assigned to
as better understand the community that we serve. APD is committed to Asheville High School, Asheville Middle School and two officers who
growing relationships with a diverse group of organizations through direct spend time at the elementary schools. In addition to normal school
community engagement. Officers dedicate numerous hours each month hours, they regularly attend and participate in extracurricular activities.
to meeting with neighborhood and community groups, hosting Coffee with
a Cop events, attending outreach events and conducting crime prevention • Do the Write Thing (DTWT) - The DTWT challenge gives middle school
efforts.
students an opportunity to examine the impact of youth violence
Slip and Slide Cops - In July of 2017 Officers Carrie Lee and Joe Jones on their lives. Through classroom discussion and writing, students
responded to a noise complaint in the Oakley neighborhood. When they communicate what they think should be done to reduce youth violence
arrived they found a group of neighborhood kids who had created a slip and a make a personal commitment to address the problem.
and slide on the side of the roadway. After ensuring that traffic could safely
pass, they did what anyone would do on a hot summer day, they took a ride • Anti-Bullying Rally - Each year in October the Asheville Police
down the slip and slide! The video quickly went viral on social media, was
featured on a number of national news broadcasts including Good Morning Department participates in the anti-bullying rally. Students in
America, CNN and ABC News, and went international, being shared in news attendance have signed a pledge to not engage in bullying and to
publications in seven different countries. promise to speak up, reach out and a be a friend when they see
bullying occuring.
Surprise for a Young Boy Battling Leukemia - In December of 2017
Officer Smith was called to a traffic crash involving Nancy Luckadoo. While • Graduation Awareness Day - APD officers attended the first day of

school at city elementary, middle and high schools. They greeted
students arriving by bus and car while encouraging them to have a
successful school year.

• Magnet School Enrollment - Officers participated in multiple enrollment

events in the public housing communities. During these events they
engaged with parents and students while handing out treats and
participating in basketball contests and dance offs.

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Training • Positively Impacting Today’s Youth (mandatory for all sworn

The Asheville Police Department strives to hire, retain and promote the officers). Training to better understand and address disproportionate
most talented and loyal officers and staff who demonstrate the highest minority contact, biases and general interaction with juveniles.
level of integrity and dedication to the law enforcement profession. Access
to high quality training plays an essential role in accomplishing our vision. • Improving Decision-Making Skills (mandatory for all sworn

The North Carolina Department of Justice Training and Standards Division officers). This training increases officer’s recognition of indicators to
requires all sworn officers to complete 24 hours of training per year. neurological and biological stressors and how to respond to each;
In calendar year 2017, officers with the Asheville Police Department discusses and compares types of decision-making processes;
completed a total of 8,192 hours of training. This is approximately 38 compres different aspects of decision-making; and identifies methods
hours of training per officer, exceeding the state requirement by 14 hours. of improving critical decision-making skills.

• Integrating Communications, Assessment and Tactics (ICAT) • Racial Equity Institute. A facilitated process designed to help

(de-escalation) training (mandatory for all sworn officers). ICAT takes leaders and organizations who want to proactively understand and
that essential building blocks of critical thinking, crisis intervention address racism, both in their organization and in the community where
and communication and tactics, and helps officers to assess a the organization is working.
situation and make safe and effective decisions. ICAT focuses on
providing officers with options besides lethal force to de-escalate ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 17
situations where the subject is armed with a weapon other than a
firearm. The goal of ICAT is to enhance safety for both the officer and
all involved parties.

• PACOPS (mandatory for all sworn officers). This training is designed

to provide officers with tactics to deal with active life threatening
incidents such as an active shooter in an outdoor environment.

• Crisis Intervention Training (mandatory for all sworn officers

prior to carrying a Taser). A model for community policing that
brings together law enforcement, mental health providers, hospital
emergency departments and individuals with mental illness and their
families. This training improves response to people in crisis.

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Access to Asheville Police Data Police to Citizen
https://apdp2c.buncombecounty.org.
Whether you’re looking for crime around a particular address or The Police to Citizen tool (P2C) was developed to make publicly available
familiarizing yourself with criminal activity throughout the City of Asheville, portions of most incident, arrest and crash reports occurring after January
this is information is at your fingertips through several online tools. 1, 2003 available to the public for instant download. If you are the victim of
a crime, or involved in a vehicle crash, this tool can assist you in obtaining
Community Crime Map a copy from your home computer.
www.communitycrimemap.com
The Asheville Police Department announced the free community crime map In addition, P2C is a perfect companion to the Community Crime Map and
tool in November of 2017 as a way of helping the public stay informed Simplicity. Included in the additional information on a crime is the incident
about crime throughout the city. The tool, a result of a partnership with (case) number. Using P2C you can look for the incident/arrest report
LexisNexis Risk Solutions, automatically syncs with the Asheville Police associated with this event by searching for the case number and date
Department’s record management system twice a day to keep crime range. If a publicly available report is available you will be given the option
information up-to-date. Crime statistics are available dating back to to download a .pdf.
calendar year 2012.
City of Asheville Open Data Portal
Community Crime Map allows users to choose a date range to view www.data.ashevillenc.gov
criminal activity (up to one year), to select which crimes to view and the Among a vast amount of information, the open data portal provides similar
opportunity to sign up for a neighborhood watch report that automatically crime information to the Community Crime Map and Simplicity. By zooming
generates an email breakdown of recent criminal activity specific to a into a map of the City of Asheville, users can view information specific to
particular area. The crime information can be viewed on a map or a data a crime - the date and time of the occurrence, incident (case) number and
grid. Basic information about the incidents, such as the type of crime, block-level address. The information can be downloaded in several formats
location type, block-level address, and date and time, is also available. including an excel spreadsheet, KML or shapefile.

SimpliCity
https://simplicity.ashevillenc.gov/#/search
SimpliCity allows you to search for any address within the city limits of
Asheville. Among many other features, SimpliCity provides crime statistics
for the address. You can choose from several pre-selected date ranges and
define the radius of your search parameter from an 1/8 of a mile to a mile.
Crime information can be viewed on a map or in a data grid. Information
provided is the type of crime, the date the crime occurred, block-level
address and the incident number. The information can be downloaded into
a .csv file.

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CALEA Re-Accreditation representatives from other law enforcement agencies, and members of
the media. A public call-in and community information session were held
On November 19, 2017 the Asheville Police Department was awarded in order to gather public feedback and gain a better understanding of how
Advanced Meritorious Accreditation by the Commission on Law APD serves the community.
Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). This is the eighth award of accreditation to
the department since 1994. The Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation Chief Tammy Hooper states, “The accreditation process is very in-depth and
program requires the department to comply with 360 standards which opens our department up to intense scrutiny by an outside agency. I am
include over 1,000 sub-requirements. The Department will undergo a extremely proud of the direction the Department is moving and will continue
reaccreditation assessment in 2021. to work hard to improve the services we provide to the community.”

The Asheville Police Department is the only accredited agency in Western The purpose of CALEA accreditation is to improve the delivery of
North Carolina. Out of approximately 500 law enforcement agencies in public safety services by voluntarily adhering to a set of established
North Carolina, less than 10 percent are fully CALEA accredited. best practices. The goal of CALEA accreditation is to strengthen crime
prevention capabilities; maintain clear management procedures; establish
As a part of the re-accreditation process, an assessment team from fair and nondiscriminatory personnel practices; improve delivery of
CALEA spent three days at the department. Assessors toured department services; and increase community confidence in the agency.
facilities, reviewed policies and procedures, and reviewed agency files. To
evaluate the department’s organizational health, the assessors interviewed
numerous APD and city employees, members of the community,

ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 21

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Property and Evidence Room Inventory and Purge Completed

Evidence is critically important to the prosecution of any case. Therefore, In addition, a number of new systems and processes have been put into
where we store evidence and the systems and processes that we have in
place for handling and locating evidence, are of the utmost importance. place to ensure that unneeded surpluses of property are not retained.
When Chief Hooper joined the Department in July of 2015, one of her
first initiatives was to inventory all of the evidence items in both the old • A system of audits, inventory and quarterly reports was implemented
and new property and evidence rooms, as well as work with the District
Attorney’s Office to purge evidentiary items no longer required by North to ensure that evidence is correctly cataloged and can be easily
Carolina law to keep.
located was implemented.
In October of 2017 the inventory and purge of all evidence room items was
completed. Property and Evidence Technicians physically touched every • Every item of evidence receives a barcode that is tied to an electronic
one of the thousands of items in property and evidence in order to verify
the existence of, and research, each individual item. record management system. This ensures that evidentiary items can

be easily located and researched moving forward.

• An annual date is set for each item to be rechecked in order to

determine the court status for the case that is it associated with. This

is for the purpose of purging evidence per North Carolina General

Statute.

• High density shelving was installed in order to create an efficient and

orderly method of storage. The high density shelving also drastically

increases the amount of evidence that can be stored in the property

and evidence room.

ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 23

Crime Statistics

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Employee Recognition

Each year the Asheville Police Department recognizes employees who distinguished themselves through heroic actions and outstanding performance or ser-
vice from the previous year. Employees who were recognized for performance in 2017 are as follows:

Officer of the Year
The Officer of the Year is presented to a sworn-member of the APD who has distinguished themselves through either an accumulation of
exceptional contributions or a single incident, and whose action clearly place the individual well above others or equal rank or grade.

• Senior Police Officer Brad Beddow

Employee of the Year
The Employee of the Year is presented to a non-sworn member of the APD who has distinguished themselves through either an accumulation of exceptional
contributions or in a single incident. The actions of the employee clearly place him or her above others of an equal status.
• Daniel Lemley, Police Administrative Services Manager

Leadership in Community Policing Award
This award is given to any sworn employee of the APD who consistently demonstrates dedication to community policing.
• Senior Police Officer Nathaniel Smith

Medal of Valor
This award is presented to any sworn employee of the APD who exhibits extraordinary courage, bravery, and/or devotion to duty, by consciously
exposing themselves to imminent danger, despite great risk to their own life, in an effort to protect or save the life of another individual.

• Lt. Joseph Silberman

Purple Heart
This award is presented to any employee of the APD who is seriously injured in the performance of duty.

• SPO Albert Ball
• SPO Matthew Brookshire
• SPO Kristopher Hamilton
• SPO Matthew Wohleben

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Life Saving Award

Awarded to an employee for saving a human life. When an employee’s direct actions led to the prolonging of life to the extent that the victim was

released to the care of medical authorities, the employee is eligible to receive this award even though the victim may expire at a later time.

• Lt. Don Eberhardt

• Sgt. Lucas Lovelace • SPO (Ret.) Phil Murfin
• SPO Brad Beddow • SPO Jim Stover
• SPO (Ret.) Chris Eby • SPO Ebony Ward
• SPO Travis Jones

• SPO Ian Luther

Merit Award

An employee may receive this award for performance of duty under unusual or difficult conditions. The action need not involve exposure to

physical dangers, but must involve unusual initiative, perseverance, conscientiousness, determination, and thoroughness; or an employee who

intelligently and in the line of duty distinguishes themselves by the performance of an act or acts of exceptional merit; or presents outstanding contributions

to the Asheville Police Department through the success of difficult police programs, projects, or situations where such contributions are of a high degree of

professional excellence; or, submits a device or method adopted to increase efficiency in an administrative or tactical procedure; or, outstanding community

service reflecting favorably on the department.

• Captain Mark Byrd • SPO Craig Roberts 27
• Lt. Joe Silberman • SPO Doug Williams
• Lt. Mike Yelton • Lt. (Reti.) Jamee Crawford
• Sgt. Christopher Byers • Sgt. (Ret.) Lynn Maxwell
• Sgt. Wade Cecil • MPO (Ret.) Lynn Wilson
• Sgt. Josh Meindl • Steve Branson
• Sgt. Scott Pruett • Colby Davis
• Sgt. Charles Wells • Colby Fox
• Detective Phil Allen • Tim Scapin
• Detective Brad Butterfield • Savannah Clark
• Detective Steve Coon • Holly Collins
• Detective Tracy Crowe • Robert Disney-Coker
• SPO Nathan Dieteker • Kristy Edmonson
• Detective Tony Johnson • Thomas Hamilton
• Detective Kelly Loiacono • Robert House
• SPO Jonathan McCain • Joe Rogers
• Detective Jonathan Morgan • Andrew Smith ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT

Departmental Citation

An employee will receive this award for outstanding performance of a difficult task involving personal risk when, because of the employee’s

action, a serious crime is prevented or a perpetrator is apprehended, or; makes multiple arrests for designated crimes within a specific

time period as prescribed by a competent authority, or; accomplishes any other outstanding actions which bring unusual credit to the department and its

employees.

• Lt. Joe Silberman • Detective Sarah Foley

• Lt. Mike Yelton • SPO Scott Fry

• Sgt. Christopher Byers • Detective Scott James

• SPO Brad Beddow • SPO Matthew Metcalf

• Detective Christopher Dennis • SPO Brandon Shope

• SPO Adam Dodd • Detective Kyle Weaver

Certificate of Appreciation

Upon recommendation of the committee, an employee may receive a Certificate of Appreciation for a deed which is worthy of recognition, but does not fall

within other award guidelines.

• Lt. Jackie Stepp • SPO Meg Pigman
• Sgt. James Boyce • SPO Liz Rice
• Sgt. Tammy Flanigan-Bryson • SPO Mario Rodriguez
• Sgt. Mike McClanahan • Lt. (Ret.) Rae Ferguson
• Sgt. Brandon Morgan • Aaron Chandler
• Sgt. Scott Pruett • Bill Chandler
• Sgt. Charles Wells • Jamie Fortner
• Detective Travis Barkley • Kevin Harrell
• SPO Wilson Bunn • Carissa Harrington
• SPO Adam Cabe • Julie Moore
• SPO Adam Dodd • Stephanie Parker
• SPO Scott Fry • Kelly Sams
• Detective Kelley Loiacono • Hannah Silberman
• SPO Scott Muse • Leigh Thomas

28 ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT

2017 Retirees
The Asheville Police Department would like to congratulate the following employees on their retirement and say thanks for their many years of committed
service:
• Brian Anderson
• Christopher Eby
• Kimberly Hazlett
• Philip Murfin
• David Romick
Active Military

The Asheville Police Department has several employees who also serve in the United States military, and a number that are currently on active
duty. The department would like to thank them for their service to our country.

ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 29

WWW.ASHEVILLENC.GOV

30 ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT