By Kevin Griffin
News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Though he’s been in the job less than two months, Greensboro Police Chief Kamran Afzal is beginning to make his mark with a change in departmental policy.
Greensboro officers are now required to carry their tasers on the opposite side of their firearms.
Afzal, who was sworn in as chief on May 12, said the change is in line with best practices.
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“It wasn’t really anything earth shattering,” Afzal said in a recent interview. “I don’t want to have an issue where we accidentally pull a handgun out instead of a Taser because they’re on the same side.”
He added: “We train that way and we just give our officers the ability to put it on either side but I was like, ‘Well, if we train that way, then we need to go ahead and apply policy saying it needs to be on the opposite side of where your strong side is.’”
The new police chief also alluded to controversy over incidents in which officers had drawn guns instead of Tasers.
Though he did not mention it specifically, one of the biggest controversies came in 2021 in Minnesota when Officer Kim Potter shot and killed Daunte Wright. Potter, who was ultimately convicted of manslaughter, said she had intended to use her Taser.
When it comes to any other potential policy changes, Afzal said he will be taking some time in order to get a long-term perspective.
“I was looking at how we do problem solving on a month-to-month basis and setting expectations that, what I expect from my command staff is identifying patterns and identifying to what they are doing to address those patterns,” he said.
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