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GREENSBORO - A criminal probe of the city police department may take another three months to complete, due in part to "issues" with federal prosecutors in Greensboro, a top state official has indicated.

And as public frustration mounts over the unresolved police scandal, City Manager Mitchell Johnson has scheduled a news conference this morning. The need to "debunk" inaccurate reports about the scandal came during a closed session Tuesday with the City Council.

"We're all very frustrated by information that's out there that's incorrect," Johnson said. He declined to elaborate.

After the January resignation of former Chief David Wray, followed by revelations of a "secret police" squad that allegedly targeted black officers, county District Attorney Doug Henderson asked for an independent investigation. An SBI probe began in June.

Nevertheless, Johnson said Thursday, members of the public mistakenly believe no investigation has been undertaken. That impression, he said, has deepened with the serialized retelling of the scandal in the weekly Rhinoceros Times.

Johnson said one city resident's e-mail to him is typical: "I'm sick and tired of reading about all these nasty things about the Greensboro Police Department. Isn't it about time you brought in a third party to investigate?"

Yet part of the reason the SBI investigation will take another several months, according to an affidavit filed last week in federal court, is that there are "issues to be resolved" with the local U.S. Attorney's Office. Those issues involve "the interview of certain members of that office who we believe have relevant information to the investigation,'' the affidavit says.

News & Record calls to James Coman, who is directing the State Bureau of Iinvestigation probe , were referred to an SBI spokeswoman who declined to comment, as did a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Coman's affidavit came in a lawsuit filed by Wray's former deputy chief, Randall Brady, who is suing the city for his retirement package. Brady commanded the covert Special Intelligence Division , which occasionally worked on joint drug task forces supervised by federal prosecutors.

During one such joint investigation in 2004, Greensboro resident Nicole Pettiford alleged that she was interrogated for six hours at a hotel by members of Special Intelligence introduced to her by federal prosecutor Cliff Barrett, head of the criminal division for the local U.S. Attorney.

Barrett has declined to comment on the allegation and was out of the office late Thursday. A lawyer for Pettiford said the matter presents a quandary for the Justice Department:

"I don't think they usually find themselves in this kind of sticky situation," said Camille Payton, Pettiford's lawyer.

"They probably are at a loss for what to do. I know that if I was the U.S. Attorney's Office, I would lay low, as low as possible. Because there really hasn't been a lot of stink about them."

At this morning's news conference, Mayor Keith Holliday planned to speak, and several council members said they would attend.

Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson Groat said she had grown increasingly frustrated that the city had released little or no information recently and had asked for updates almost weekly.

"The citizens, the taxpayers, pay the bills and they should be kept informed as much as possible," she said Thursday.

Councilwoman Yvonne Johnson agreed. "We need to keep the public and the press up to date. There's a lot of stuff that's being printed that's not accurate. We need to say that."

Contact Lorraine Ahearn at 373-7334 or lahearn@news-record.com

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