Meet Beverly “bj” Council | Primary Presenter of You & Five-O, LLC

We had the good fortune of connecting with Beverly “bj” Council and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Beverly “BJ”, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
My work doesn’t really allow me to know if I’m successful. Those that attend my workshop on how to safely interact with police don’t call and tell me they had an encounter or that they got home safely. I’ve done pre/post surveys at my workshops. The results of the surveys show attendees have an increase of knowledge of their rights, and a slight increase in comfort with police officer. Whether that increase of knowledge translate to safe encounters, I’ll never know. What the survey does tell me I’ve been successful in relaying information that gives attendees the tools on how to interact with police. This means they now understand the officer’s role in the encounter as well as their role. The knowledge and understanding of both persons involved in the interaction, means the outcome leans towards success for all. The most important factor of success is I’ve given people knowledge on how to get home safely.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a retired Deputy Police Chief of Durham Police Department. I joined the agency when it was called Durham Public Safety. They’d combined police and fire, so I was trained a firefighter and police officer. When they separated police and fire back to their respective roles, I chose to be a police officer. What I’m proud of is that Durham embraced community policing philosophy. It fit my core values of helping those in need, no matter who they are or their lot in life. That sealed how I served the community and how I supported the agency’s community policing philosophy in my various roles within the organization.
Community first, their needs are met first and law enforcement adjust to those needs accordingly. We serve and police in the manner the community expects of its local policing agency. This doesn’t mean we don’t enforce the laws. It means the voices from the community determines what they feel makes their community safer. Which quite often is not related to law enforcement. Contrary to popular belief, policing a community doesn’t necessarily equal a safer community. I learned in Durham that when community members have a say in how they want service, relationships are built that support trust which in turns, helps to find solutions collectively. My core values and strong belief in community, support of the policing community is what I bring to You & Five-O. I not only see things through the lens of law enforcement, but most importantly I see it through the lens of being a member of the community.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’d start at the Refectory Cafe in Durham, for brunch, they have a good Acai Bowl. Then go to Baxter Arcade in Carrboro. I used to spend hours in an arcade on my days off. I just decompress, by unsuccessfully trying to get to a level above six in Tetris.
Then go to Taqueria La Vaquita for lunch, then end the day with ice cream at Pincho Loco Ice Cream, both in Durham.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I don’t have one person. It’s a very small village. My professional career ended with a public scandal. So, actually I’m grateful for that happening in a weird kind of way. It kind of cleared out those that weren’t really true and loyal friends. It allowed me to clearly see who my true friends were, my chosen family and they chose me to be part of their family. That may not be what you need, but it’s the very few that hung in there when things went way south for me, even though I was the cause of it. Yet there they stood and still stand offering me love and support.

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