Sentinel Event Review for City of Fayetteville (NC)
Fayetteville (NC) City Council (Mayor Colvin, Kathy Jensen, D.J. Haire, Lynne Greene, Brenda McNair, Courtney Banks-McLaughlin, Derrick Thompson and Malik Davis)
North Carolina Governor-elect Josh Stein wrote:
"I urge that a sentinel event review, which is designed to better understand and learn from officer-involved shootings, be conducted in this case. It is possible that a co-responder model that pairs social workers and other mental health experts with police officers could have helped better address the reason for a call. Finally, I call for the body camera footage recorded at the scene to be released in the interest of transparency to the people."
Initially, the City of Fayetteville seemed to heed the Attorney General's recommendation, voting 7-3 in June of 2024 to staff development of a municipal S.E.R. process (voting against from the start were CM's Jensen, Thompson and Haire). The City's staff attorneys developed a thorough S.E.R. Report that was presented to councilmembers on Jan 6th, 2025.
What is a Sentinel Event Review?
According to the National Institute of Justice, a Sentinel Event is a negative outcome that:
- Signals underlying weaknesses in a system or process
- Is likely the result of compound errors
- May, if properly understood, provide important keys to strengthening the system and preventing similar adverse outcomes in the future.
Sentinel Event Reviews were initially developed as a process for better understanding the causes of industrial accidents. They were later adopted in aviation, medical environments and have been used to examine law enforcement events in New York, Illinois, Washington and Massachusetts. The SER process brings all stakeholders to the table to discuss why a negative outcome or event ever happened.
National Institute of Justice:
"The SER process brings all stakeholders to the table on a regular basis to discuss, in a nonblaming way, why a negative outcome or event happened.... The overarching goal of SER is to mobilize a routine, culture-changing practice that can lead to increased system reliability and, hence, greater public confidence in a system’s legitimacy."
A move toward transparency and accountability sounds like a no-brainer. What's taking the City Council so long to adopt an S.E.R?
Well... It IS a no-brainer and there's no good excuse for this delay. However, during a closed work session on Jan 6th - Eight city council members voted to reverse the decision to implement the S.E.R!! As a community, we must join not only (current) NC Governor Josh Stein, but also Councilmember Benevente and Councilmember Hondros in URGING the other eight members of the Fayetteville City Council to execute the exceptional guidance of the city's staff attorneys and implement the S.E.R. NOW!!
Why is this Important?
In the brilliant words of author James Baldwin: "How much time do you want for your progress?".
In the case of the City of Fayetteville and Cumberland County, a more critically urgent question is: "How many more people will die unnecessarily as the City Council delays taking concrete steps toward improvement?"
Shot 17 times, Jada Johnson wasn't the first person to die at the hands of the FPD. This community has also witnessed the police homicides of Nizja Hagans, Lawrence Graham, Shakur McNair, Adrian Roberts (CCSO), Joshua Oxendine, Demarcus Brodie and several others.
According to data analyzed by policescorecard.org, the FPD kills residents (deadly force per arrest) at a rate higher than 82% of US police departments! Instead of confronting this reality with systemic changes, moral courage and "can-do" resolve, our City Council continues to minimize the urgency of this situation! This is unacceptable.
Add your name to urge the 8 delaying Council Members to move urgently toward increasing transparency and accountabilityUrge S.E.R implementation NOW!! In addition, this city needs an S.E.R. to move beyond police homicide in examining how in-police custody deaths like that of Lawrence Artis can be avoided in the future. The process could also have resulted in a deeper understanding of the FPD process that hindered the arrest of Jeffrey Hash following the murder of Jason Walker.
Together, let's show that delay & backtracking on transparency and accountability in local governance is NOT acceptable!
Together, let's show that People of Fayetteville deserve a system that meets loss of life with the urgency the moment demands!
Sign the petition now, and share with three friends!
Thanks for all you do. All of Us or None.
Sources:
1. "No Charges Filed in the Death of Jada Elizabeth Johnson," NC DOJ Press Release, May 24, 2023
https://ncdoj.gov/no-charges-filed-in-death-of-jada-elizabeth-johnson/
Sponsored by
To:
Fayetteville (NC) City Council (Mayor Colvin, Kathy Jensen, D.J. Haire, Lynne Greene, Brenda McNair, Courtney Banks-McLaughlin, Derrick Thompson and Malik Davis)
From:
[Your Name]
As a community we implore you to adopt the urgent recommendation of Governor-elect Josh Stein and the guidance of the city's able staff attorneys in adoption of a Sentinel Event Review (S.E.R.). This is a critically important process that, if implemented, could prevent unnecessary loss of life while simultaneously bolstering municipal standards of transparency and accountability. Act NOW and move this process forward without further delay.