Port Royal police officers pulled out guns 35 times during 2020 arrests, report says
Officers with the Port Royal Police Department used “force” 61 times during 519 arrests in 2020, a police accountability report released Wednesday found.
The number is notably higher than other Beaufort County police agencies, but that’s because Port Royal has a wider definition for force; it includes when officers take out their gun. Port Royal officers pulled their weapon 35 times during 54 encounters last year, according to data from the latest Citizens Task Force for Law Enforcement Accountability report.
They did not fire their weapons during those incidents. Officers also used “physical compliance” 22 times and took out a taser four times.
Some agencies did not offer these specific statistics in previous reports. Force in most agencies is limited to firing guns and tasers and using physical restraints.
The Bluffton Police Department said officers used force only three times in 2020. In an annual report released this week, the Beaufort Police Department said force was used 20 times.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, larger than all three agencies combined, said deputies used force 16 times in 2019, the most recent year data was available.
The 30-member task force, formed by residents across the county in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, said its goals are to use data to increase police transparency and create dialogue with the communities agencies oversee.
The report’s release on Wednesday was the fourth released by the group since the beginning of 2021. Members met with different police departments to gather data on several issues, including arrest demographics, citations, warnings and use of force.
The data showed arrests were disproportionate to the town’s population. Of the department’s more than 500 arrests, 54% were Black people, 35% were white people and 10% were Hispanic. Black people comprise 19% of the town population, with white people representing 62% and Hispanic people 12.5%.
Port Royal’s data also showed that one officer pulled out his gun eight times; another pulled his weapon six times. Most of the instances happened at night, and more than half involved an armed subject, the report said.
“We recognize that an officer must protect himself,” wrote Lisa Allen, founder of the task force. “Are these officers in unsafe circumstances more often than other officers because of night shifts or patrol areas? If so, should the town deploy two officer cars at those times or places?”
Of the department’s 54 encounters involving force, 62% were against Black people and 33% against white people, according to the report.
Port Royal Police Chief Alan Beach said he reviewed every instance of force and considered each to be appropriate.
“Port Royal Police responded to over 28,000 calls for service in 2020 and only used force 54 times,” Beach said.
Do you live here?
The accountability reports compared each Beaufort County law enforcement agency’s statistics with its municipality’s demographics.
Like other agencies in the county, Port Royal’s statistics show that more Black people are arrested than white people, the report states.
However, Port Royal town leaders cautioned at drawing conclusions from the discrepancy.
More than three-quarters of those arrested by Port Royal Police last year did not live in the town, they said.
The high number of police encounters of non-residents may be because Port Royal is a thoroughfare. Those coming from north of the Broad River to drive elsewhere in Beaufort County usually pass through Port Royal.
The task force notes that the race discrepancy could be because of “laws that affect different groups of people differently, higher rates of poverty among [people of color], and unintentional bias of enforcement teams.”
Chief Beach noted that the arrests number may be skewed because many stem from a small group of people who commit multiple crimes repeatedly.
“Some arrests involve a single defendant with multiple charges,” Beach said. “Arrest data will reflect three arrests; however, there was only one individual arrested.”
Tickets, warnings, demographics
The department gave out more than 2,200 traffic tickets and issued around 2,500 warnings last year.
Between Black and white people, the split more closely matches the demographics of Port Royal, the report finds.
But again, many of those interacting with law enforcement are not usually residents of the town.
In Port Royal, 90% of its officers are male. A little over 60% are white, and close to 20% are Black.
That breakdown is more equitable than the other agencies, but the task force’s Allen said it’s hard to compare them because they have “different policies and different ecosystems.”
According to Chief Beach, having a small department offers more challenges in recruiting and retaining officers.
“It’s hard to recruit any officers, including those of color,” Beach said in the report. “In some instances, it’s personality. Some want a force that has more activity per shift than ours.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 8:41 AM.
