500 signatures reached
To: Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough
End deadly policies at the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office
1. Commit to a policy of full transparency under which the Sheriff’s Office agrees to inform the public about deaths in Sheriff’s custody, within 24 hours.
2. End the use of the prone restraint/hog tie maneuver.
3. End the use of knee to neck maneuvers.
4. Commit that all sheriff officers, deputies and staff shall have a duty to intervene.
5. Commit to train all sheriff officers, deputy and staff in anti-racist policing and jail facility managment within 6 months.
6. Terminate the contract with medical services provider Wellpath. Multiple deaths have occurred during Wellpath’s tenure and at least five of those have resulted in lawsuits.
7. Revise the Sheriff department’s annual report to include race, ethnicity, sex, sexual identification and native language data for each reporting subject.
8. Establish an independent citizens review committee that will conduct annual audits of jail procedures.
Why is this important?
John Neville was murdered by five Forsyth County Sheriff's Deputies. He was brutally and inhumanely hog tied and restrained with a knee to the back. As Mr. Neville pleaded for his life and informed the staff that he could not breathe, they joked and laughed, but did not render help.
Had the policies listed above been in place, Mr. Neville would be alive today. Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough has an obligation to manage a safe facility. He must make the reforms necessary to insure that all people in his custody are treated fairly, humanely and safely.