Josh Reyes
Daily Press
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — If a Newport News police officer sees another officer in a verbal or physical conflict, they are now required to intervene.
Police Chief Steve Drew said the department changed its policies this weekend to include a “direct duty to intervene.” It’s one of two changes designed to increase officer accountability and deescalate situations that Drew announced at a news conference Tuesday.
The changes come in the weeks following the death of George Floyd, who was died after a Minneapolis police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.
Three other police officers who were at the scene were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Newport News’ duty to intervene requires any officer to step in when another officer is in a verbal or physical conflict. In these situations, the ranks of the officers involved do not matter, Drew said.
He added that it may be difficult for officers to intervene in incidents involving a superior or a more experienced colleague, so the department must foster an environment in which officers feel empowered to hold each other accountable. Drew and Mayor McKinley Price said policy does not need to take a long time to change — the real work is in enforcing that culture of accountability.
The duty to intervene is a step beyond the department’s duty to report policy that required officers to inform a supervisor if they observed wrongdoing. Drew said the change came as he and others followed national discussions for police reforms in recent weeks.
The department also plans to bring the ratio of regular officers to sergeants down so there are six officers under one sergeant at a time. Drew said sergeants and officers in leadership roles often help deescalate situations.
Drew also went over other policies he said he’s received questions about in recent weeks.
He said the department does not allow chokeholds or other restraints focused on a person’s neck, and officers are not allowed to fire at moving vehicles unless they are shooting to protect theirself or someone else in danger of being hit by the vehicle. He said the use of force must match the force used against an officer and any force beyond a regular arrest is reported and reviewed.