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GREENSBORO - The police lieutenant whose suspension began a chain of events ending in Chief David Wray's resignation said he feels vindicated and is ready to go back to work.

"I'm truly delighted to return to active duty and look forward to the agency being under new direction under interim chief (Tim) Bellamy," Lt. James Hinson said Wednesday at a news conference held on the stairs of the police department. "The truth will always come out in the end."

Hinson and his lawyer, Joe Williams, read prepared statements to the media prior to a one-on-one meeting with Bellamy, who was named acting chief Monday.

Hinson, who thanked his family, friends and colleagues for standing by him during his paid suspension, was greeted by about 15 officers who gave him hugs and handshakes and offered their congratulations.

Wray suspended Hinson, an African American lieutenant, in June shortly after Hinson found a tracking device on his cruiser. During that time, Wray alluded to a drug investigation. Hinson and Williams alleged the police's Special Intelligence Section was targeting black officers for unfair discipline.

In an interview with the News & Record prior to the news conference, Hinson said his suspension and the innuendo of a drug investigation has affected his family and his business.

"It affected me, it affected my children at school," he said. "People would walk up and say different things, like ‘There's the drug dealer they were talking about.' "

On Tuesday, city manager Mitchell Johnson said Wray misled the public and city officials by publicly implying that Hinson was part of a drug investigation. Johnson said Wray knew Hinson had been cleared of criminal wrongdoing in 2003 and administrative wrongdoing in 2004.

"Lieutenant Hinson is here today because he refused to let a few misguided individuals commandeer the Greensboro Police Department for their own misguided purposes," Williams told reporters on Wednesday.

In a statement released Wednesday night, Wray said Hinson was targeted because his name came up during another investigation. It was Wray's first public statement since he resigned Monday.

"We understood that Lieutenant Hinson was a person of interest in connection with that investigation," Wray said.

But Johnson said Wray misled city officials by covering up the actions of the Special Intelligence Section - dubbed the "secret police" - that targeted black officers for unfair internal investigations and the existence of a "black book" that contained photos of at least 19 African American officers.

Williams told reporters the book was used "to entice criminals and other people on the street to give false information on good police officers in exchange for looking the other way."

Hinson told the News & Record he knew the "black book" existed because officers were talking about its existence.

"It was going around the department that there was a book with a number of pictures in it," he said.

Wray's statement denied that accusation and said the book was created as a photo array to be shown to a woman who complained she was groped and sexually assaulted during a strip search by a black male officer. It was, he said, used just for that case.

Williams said he was surprised at the attention Hinson's concerns were given and praised Johnson's handling of the situation.

"In most cities the senior management would have simply accepted the chief's word and let Lieutenant Hinson's life be destroyed," Williams told reporters. "Thanks to a courageous Lieutenant Hinson, city manager and city attorney, the good old boy network is gone forever in the Greensboro Police Department."

Hinson said he feels fellow officers will accept him as he returns to work today for training he has missed during his suspension.

"I don't foresee any difficulty," he told the News & Record. "The troops know the truth. It's been clearly revealed."

As for Wray, Hinson would say little.

"My prayers go out to him," he told the News & Record. "That's all I have to say."

Contact Amy Dominello at 373-7091 or adominello@news-record.com

Contact Eric J.S. Townsend at 373-7008 or etownsend@news-record.com