Salisbury, N.C., police challenge New York Times reporter's account of arrest

In Sunday's New York Times, reporter Solomon Moore described anti-gang tactics of law enforcement in North Carolina, reporting that he experienced those measures firsthand in Salisbury, population 26,000, in August. (Times photo, by Chris Keane, shows a Charlotte officer checking an identification.)

In his article, which reported allegations that police are using racial profiling, Moore wrote that he came to a corner in Salisbury after midnight on Aug. 9, and observed several drug deals. The crowd dispersed when alerted that police were coming. Moore stuck around, and that's when the trouble started. When the police arrived, Moore said he was grabbed, handcuffed and slammed on the hood of a police car "without so much as a question."

Moore's story, headlined "Reporting While Black," drew fire from Police Chief Mark Wilhelm and City Manager David Treme. They told Salisbury Post reporter Mark Wineka that the three police officers acted appropriately, since Moore verbally resisted arrest and refused to remove his hands from his pockets. In Wineka's article, Wilhelm said that given the high-crime area and Moore's unknown identity, "Any officer in the same situation would have done the same thing." They said that once Moore's identity had been confirmed, officers offered to let him accompany them as they continued to target high-crime areas as part of their special operation, but he declined.

Salisbury has stepped its effort against gangs as a result of the gang-related shooting death of a 13-year-old in March. Mayor Susan Kluttz said she apologized to Moore during a 45-minute conversation in which she detailed the efforts taken by the city to curtail gang violence. She said she was proud of her police but disappointed that Moore's article focused on this incident and not the positive efforts made by Salisbury.