GREENSBORO, NC -- The Good Morning Show's Ask The Chief segment gives you a chance to ask your city leaders questions. Wednesday, Greensboro Police Chief Wayne Scott talked about two big issues before answering your questions.
Chief Scott's been in the spotlight recently because of a special order to stop certain minor traffic stops, like vehicle equipment violations. The decision was in response to a New York Times article about racial profiling in Greensboro. While many community members may have loved the decision, some Greensboro Police officers didn't; saying it doesn't do anything to stop the misconception that racial profiling happens.
Chief Scott plans to re-evaluate the new policy every 30 days and though we haven't reached that time period yet, he gave WFMY News 2's Tracey McCain an update on how the program is going.
"We're still looking at exactly what the effects are," said Scott. "One week into it, we did not see any increase in crime, we didn't see anything that was negative about it. The good part about it is that it created conversation in our community that talks about the bigger issue. So it's positive," added Scott.
Chief Scott also talked about safety during the holiday shopping season. Between parking lot safety, people stealing from parked cars and thieves tempted to break into homes, Scott offered some safety tips.
"Don't be out alone late at night. Most of those crimes are crimes of opportunity. So if you don't want to be a victim take away the opportunity. We'll also have extra officers tomorrow for a 30 day period on foot and on bike so if you have a question reach out to one of our GPD folks," said Scott.
Chief Scott also answered viewer questions from Shauntai and Jesse.
Shauntai wants to know how officers are trained to use tasers and/or guns. Here's part of Chief Scott's response: "The short answer is our officers are trained the same way as most officers across the country to use a minimum amount of force to stop a threat."
Jesse asked about the success of the recent gun turn in. He asked, "I heard you had one BB gun turned in... is this true?"
Chief Scott responded: "We did not have any firearms at the most recent one, but we don't measure success by what we have turned in. It was a stop the violence campaign that day and we have over 200 people come by and pledge to stop the violence here in Greensboro. So it's really not indicative of how many we have turned in, it's getting that message out there to the community."
There were a couple questions the Chief couldn't get to on air. He recorded these answers after the Good Morning Show in our exclusive web extra.
Web Extra: Chief Scott Answers Viewer Question About School Bus Safety
Web Extra: Chief Scott Responds To Viewer Saying Thanks
Web Extra: Chief Scott Answers Michael's Question About Crime Stats
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