DATE: Sunday, August 17, 1997               TAG: 9708170092

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   84 lines

FAMILY, POLICE CHIEF AT ODDS OVER WORDS, APOLOGY A VERBAL CONFRONTATION. A DISPUTE ABOUT WHAT WAS SAID. A LETTER OF APOLOGY THAT WAS CALLED UNACCEPTABLE. NOW, ELIZABETH CITY'S POLICE CHIEF AND A PROMINENT FAMILY AREN'T TALKING TO EACH OTHER.

Some people like the no-nonsense style Police Chief Michael Lloyd brought to town when he was hired eight months ago.

Councilwoman Myrtle Rivers and her family aren't among them.

Rivers and her husband, Raymond Rivers, have been at odds with the chief ever since an alleged verbal confrontation with their son, Kirk, on a dark street just after midnight almost two weeks ago. Raymond Rivers is president of the Pasquotank County NAACP.

City Manager Steven Harrell told Lloyd to write an apology to the Rivers family after an Aug. 4 meeting with the Riverses, Harrell, Mayor Rick Gardner, Councilwoman Anita Hummer, and a witness, Andre Simpson.

The letter was not apologetic, according to the Riverses. The family held a press conference Friday in front of the old nightclub where Lloyd allegedly insulted Kirk Rivers.

``We as a family perceived the head of the largest law enforcement agency in Elizabeth City as being an honest, respectful, fair, nondiscriminatory individual. We were wrong,'' Raymond Rivers read from a prepared statement.

``If this behavior in the presence of and against not only the Rivers family, but his supervisor . . . is allowed to take place without any serious consequences, it will continue to the Smiths, the Joneses, the Johnsons . . . and especially to African Americans.''

``I have no comment about anything they say,'' Lloyd said Friday about the press conference.

There is rumbling through parts of the black community that police are more aggressive and confrontational than they were before Lloyd came. Others praise Lloyd's efforts, saying it has helped clear communities of drug traffickers and unwanted loiterers.

``I'm just a strong supporter of the police and law and order,'' said Judge J.C. Cole, a black district court judge who has a reputation for discipline in his courtroom. ``I don't always agree with how police treat folks, but you've got to respect law enforcement. Without law enforcement you've got anarchy.

``This community policing concept needs the full support of every citizen to make our neighborhoods safe. I think Lloyd is doing an excellent job in trying to bring that about.''

On Aug. 3, Lloyd was patrolling with other officers in the neighborhood of an old nightclub, PWDs, which was closed years ago.

A 16-year-old boy drove his van the wrong way down Shepard Street. Lloyd stopped the van.

Nearby, a crowd of young black men stood in the lot of PWDs.

Lloyd has said that the men were yelling, ``Give the white boy a ticket.''

Kirk Rivers says he didn't hear that. Rivers was standing next to a fence on the property with his friend Andre Simpson, whose father owns the nightclub property. The others were standing outside the fence.

After allowing the van to leave without issuing the driver a ticket, Lloyd began walking toward the group and asked the young men to leave. They did not leave right away. ``If I get there before you move, I'm going to arrest you boys,'' Lloyd said, according to Kirk Rivers. The group moved on.

Kirk Rivers said he politely asked Lloyd why he had let the van go without a ticket. Lloyd cut him off, cursing, Rivers said.

``I then got in my vehicle and went down to the police station to find out why he used that type of language to talk to me when I addressed him with respect,'' Kirk Rivers said during the press conference.

Lloyd says he did not curse at Kirk Rivers.

The day after the alleged confrontation, the Riverses requested a meeting with Gardner and Harrell.

The Riverses said Lloyd was confrontational during that meeting.

``The city manager has to handle this,'' Gardner said last week. He met with the Riverses because, he said, ``My door is open to any citizen who wants to talk with me.

``I think the chief overall has done a good job. There have been no demands that the chief resign.''

Andre Simpson's mother is Shirley Simpson, chairwoman of the Community-Police Leadership Group, which has worked closely with Lloyd for eight months. Shepard Street and PWDs are in one of the two neighborhoods where the community group has been most visible.

Councilwoman Rivers would not comment on whether she would push for Lloyd's resignation. Harrell would not comment on how he would handle the incident.

Shirley Simpson had no comment.

Roosevelt Wright, who lives a few blocks from PWDs, supports Lloyd.

``They ought to let the chief do his job,'' Wright said. ``All officers are men. Some have tempers. Some don't. The man is cleaning the town up. This town is a whole lot better from when he first got here. The man's all right with me.''

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