Fayette County

Police chief calls for national accreditation standards for officers

FAYETTEVILLE, NC. — Fayetteville, North Carolina Police Chief Gina V. Hawkins, who also works with the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (N.O.B.L.E.) said the organization is calling for national accreditation standards for all police to help prevent violence.

Hawkins came out early condemning the actions of four Minneapolis police officers involved in the death of George Floyd. Floyd was killed on Memorial Day after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes.

Channel 2 Anchor Jorge Estevez talked to Hawkins about how she believes setting a standard for all police agencies across the nation would make a tremendous difference.

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"What that is going to do is establish best practices, establish best policies. The best training," Hawkins said. "It creates a standard no matter what size agency you have, large or small, the expectation of how we should operate, how we should implement leadership, how we should govern policing."

Estevez asked how new guidelines could prevent tragedies like George Floyd in the future. She said it would help make sure that all agencies are trained on intervening during crisis situations.

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Hawkins said community policing is an incredibly important part of the equation.

“You empathize you listen,” Hawkins said. “You listen to the unheard, and you start training, and you take ownership as a law enforcement agency and say, ‘What can we change?’”