It may cause or have side effects, but it stops the citizen from being combative and resistant. And I just thank you for the opportunity to speak, and I hope that you will consider the words that I have said. There are officers who are here in the audience, and I believe that we all agree that we need pepper spray. If you ask us, we will give you our opinion. We are the public as well as the police.
Police are the public, and the public are the police.
We are people, we are citizens of Winston-Salem. This is something that we need, and we feel that it helps us in our jobs. I ask that you consider those. And Chief Sweat, he wouldn't say that the citizens are being affected by this, that it's hurting them if it's not something that we didn't need. The North State LawEnforcement Officers Association is the professional association of African-American police officers in North Carolina.