Asheville Police

The number of shooting incidents in Asheville is up compared to this time last year, according to the latest figures from the city police department.

(UPDATE 10:45 p.m.) Asheville City Council Tuesday night approved a roughly 3% cut to the city police department’s budget.  The plan was crafted after council members delayed approving a full city budget after a group of Black activists sought cuts in police spending, with money being reinvested in Asheville's Black community.  

Asheville police arrested a man Friday whom they say twice threatened and intimidated employees of two different Walmart's in the city, one of which was caught on video which subsequently went viral.

Of 911 calls and requests for assistance to Asheville Police, less than 1 percent involve a violent crime, an AVL Watchdog analysis of police dispatch data shows.

Asheville city council will meet on Tuesday evening.  It's the first meeting since last week's protests, which culminated with a list of demands from a collective of black leaders from city government, which included cutting funds for the city police department and using the money to invest in the black community.

Starting Sunday May 31st, marchers in Asheville were in Pack Square each night for an entire week, calling for justice for George Floyd and other African Americans who have died at the hands of law enforcement in the U.S.  

On Thurs., Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer is expected to meet with organizers of a medic station set up to support protestors.

(Thursday 10:00 p.m.) - Thursday night’s vigil in Pack Square went off peacefully, with protesters leaving as organizers urged before the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect.  

Asheville police Tammy Hooper will resign her post.  Her last day with the department will be January 2nd, 2019.  According to a press release put out Wednesday morning by Asheville interim city manager Cathy Ball, Hooper is resigning to pursue consulting opportunities.

A report commissioned by the city of Asheville criticizes two Asheville police officers for not intervening when a then city police officer was beating and choking an unarmed black pedestrian last August. 

Former Asheville police officer Chris Hickman will not face federal charges for his role in the beating of an unarmed black man last August, the office of U.S.

In a move that supporters believe will aid in reducing racial disparities in the city, Asheville police will soon have to get written consent to search vehicles they’ve pulled over instead of just asking for it as is done currently.  City council approved the switch Tuesday by a 5-2 vote.  Cases where police have ‘probable cause’ to search a vehicle that’s been stopped will not be affected. 

Asheville police say four people are dead and three others were injured in a shooting that occurred late Wednesday evening in West Asheville.  The suspect in the case, identified as 35-year-old Maurice Laron Garner, is among the deceased.  Police say he died from a self inflicted gunshot wound.  He was found in a vehicle not far from the residence on Hansel Avenue where the shooting took place.

Nine body camera videos were released via court order Monday that depict the beating of an unarmed black man last August and its aftermath by a then-Asheville police officer, who now faces criminal charges for the incident.

Asheville city council is scheduled to meet twice on Tuesday, its first regularly scheduled meetings since the release of a body camera video that showed a then-city police officer beating an unarmed black man last year.  

Asheville city council has called a closed session special meeting for Monday evening to discuss a video released this week showing a then-Asheville police officer beating an unarmed black man last August.  The video, published by the Asheville Citizen-Times, shows officer Chris Hickman beating and shocking with a stun gun Johnnie Jermaine Rush.  Hickman had stopped Rush for suspected jaywalking and trespassing August 24th. 

Efforts to promote racial and ethnic equity in Asheville should include community forums focusing on traffic stop data from city police.  That’s one of many recommendations a study group that’s proposing a ‘human relations commission’ in Asheville gave to city council Tuesday.  That group is also asking the city to expand its Office of Equity and Inclusion from one to four employees.  The current head of that office, Kimberlee Archie, was just hired last year.